DEPUTY PRIME MINISTER

Council Tax

Adam Holloway: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what assessment he has made of the effect of council tax increases on pensioners.

Phil Woolas: The Government recognise the concerns of many pensioners about council tax. So does Sir Michael Lyons's Independent Inquiry into Local Government which will recommend at the end of the year how best to reform the council tax system. We look forward to receiving his findings.

Council Tax

Ann Winterton: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what the change has been in the average Band D council tax since 1997–98.

Phil Woolas: The average Band D area council tax in England has risen from £688 in 1997–98 to £1,268 in 2006–07; an increase of £580 or 84.3 per cent.

Community Schools

Lindsay Hoyle: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister if he will make a statement on his plans for community councils.

Phil Woolas: Government will be setting out a range of proposals for parish and town councils in the forthcoming local government White Paper.

Building Regulations

Colin Challen: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister 
	(1)  if he will introduce a national quality control system under Part L of the building regulations;
	(2)  what steps he is taking to ensure compliance with Part L of the building regulations;
	(3)  if he will introduce measures to improve training for building control officers in the (a) public and (b) private sector on Part L of the building regulations.

Yvette Cooper: Local authorities and approved inspectors have a general duty under the Building Act to check that persons carrying out building work comply with the Building Regulations. Building Control Performance Standards set out recommended standards and guidance for the performance of building control that all Building Control Bodies should adopt. Beyond this there are no plans to introduce an additional national quality control system under Part L of the Building Regulations.
	The Government continues to work with Building Control Bodies to see how enforcement with the new tougher energy performance standards that come into effect on 6 April 2006 can be cost effectively improved.
	This includes regulations to improve compliance by simplifying the process for calculating energy performance, requiring air pressure testing and establishing new competent person self-certification schemes.
	We also have under way the largest ever training and dissemination programme for new building regulations. This programme of seminars, regional road shows and workshops targeted at building control surveyors in both the public and private sectors started in September 2005 and will include an e-learning pack for every building control surveyor.

Building Targets

Eric Pickles: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what assessment he has made of the building targets set for each local authority under the (a) Regional Planning Guidance and (b) Spatial Strategy for each Government Office region.

Yvette Cooper: There are no general building targets. However, house building targets for each local authority are set out in regional spatial strategies (formerly Regional Planning Guidance). They are assessed by the respective Regional Planning Body, both on an annual basis by monitoring actual completion rates against the respective target and, less frequently, through the review of regional spatial strategy policies.

Coastal Erosion (Essex)

David Amess: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what recent assessment he has made of coastal erosion around (a) the Southend West constituency and (b) Essex; and if he will make a statement.

Elliot Morley: I have been asked to reply.
	Defra has overall policy responsibility for coastal erosion risk in England and grant aids individual local authority improvement projects to reduce this risk but does not build defences, nor direct the authorities on which specific projects to undertake.
	Erosion risk will vary around the coastline depending on local conditions and defences in place. Defra has encouraged the relevant authorities to produce Shoreline Management Plans (SMPs) which provide large-scale assessments of the risks associated with coastal processes and present long term policy frameworks to manage these risks in a sustainable manner. In 2001 Defra funded a national study of information on long term coastal processes and evolution over the next century (Futurecoast). This is designed to be used by coastal authorities to inform their current revisions of SMPs. The Office of Science and Technology's Foresight Future Flooding report, published in 2004, used Futurecoast and other information to consider possible rates of coastal erosion for the whole country under different scenarios over the next 80 years.
	Management of coastal erosion risk and associated monitoring in specific locations is the responsibility of the relevant local authority in each area. Defra has not carried out any specific assessment in the areas identified.

Contracts (Voluntary Sector)

Andrew Turner: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister how many contracts are let by his Department to voluntary sector organisations; how many of those are let on an annual basis; and how many of those had received finalised contracts for 2006–07 by 31 March.

Jim Fitzpatrick: The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister does not hold this information centrally and it could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

Home Information Packs

Ian Liddell-Grainger: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what help will be given to estate agents to implement home information packs.

Yvette Cooper: Individual estate agents, as with other advisers to the public on home buying and selling, should consider what action they need to take to remain competitive in the new market environment which will follow from the introduction of home information packs on 1 June 2007. These are commercial decisions, and the Government do not envisage providing financial help to the industry.

Home Information Packs

Ian Liddell-Grainger: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what trials have been carried out in the last three years to see how home information packs will be implemented.

Yvette Cooper: I refer to my statement of 7 April 2006 which gives details of a dry-run prior to introducing home information packs on 1 June 2007. HIP providers are currently marketing the packs, and to date 45 organisations in England and Wales have provided 2,500 packs on a voluntary basis. This number will grow significantly during stage 2 of the dry-run from October 2006 when packs will be marketed with home condition reports produced by certified inspectors.

Home Information Packs

Ian Liddell-Grainger: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what meetings his Department has had with (a) estate agents, (b) mortgage lenders, (c) the Law Society and (d) other stakeholders concerning home information packs.

Yvette Cooper: The Department has regular meetings with all the key stakeholders in the home buying and selling industry. The principal forum for discussion with the representative bodies, including the National Association of Estate Agents, the Council of Mortgage Lenders and the Law Society, is the Central Stakeholder Group which generally meets every month.

Local Authority Housing

Michael Meacher: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister how much rental income was received by each local authority from their council house stock in each year since 1997; how much of this rental income each year was (a) kept for use by the local authority in their housing revenue account and (b) transferred from local authority control for other purposes; and what percentage the amount transferred away from local authority control represents as a percentage of the amount remaining in the housing revenue account in each case.

Yvette Cooper: holding answer 7 March 2006
	A table showing available data has been placed in the House Library.
	Rent forms part of the HRA, along with various allowances for expenditure (management, maintenance, major repairs allowance, debt charges etc). Some authorities are in deficit and we are providing net subsidy of around £200 million in 2005–06, with similar amounts forecast for future years.
	Where an authority has an assumed surplus (negative subsidy) transfers are made to the ODPM according to calculations and assumptions made independently of the actual rents an authority charges. These transfers are recycled through the subsidy system and paid to authorities with an assumed deficit. None of the transfers are used for 'other purposes'.
	Prior to 2004–05, net subsidy entitlement was calculated differently. Housing element requirements were calculated similarly to the current HRA subsidy, but then added to the rent rebate element which was then accounted for in the HRA. Where the housing element was a negative amount, it was deducted from the rent rebate subsidy entitlement, and any net subsidy requirement was met by the Exchequer.
	In some cases, where surpluses remained after the two subsidy streams had been reconciled, the balance would be transferred to that authority's own general fund and lost to housing. No data were routinely collected to show the amounts transferred.

Local Government Pensions

Caroline Spelman: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what the earliest retirement age possible under the Local Government Pension Scheme is for a worker in good health; and what the average retirement age of a member of the scheme was in the last period for which figures are available.

Phil Woolas: As with all occupational pension schemes approved by Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs, the earliest age for release of a pension in the Local Government Pension scheme is 50. No figures are held centrally.

Mortgage Repossessions

George Mudie: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister how many mortgage repossessions there were in each year between 2003 and 2006.

Yvette Cooper: Information on mortgage possessions is only available for the United Kingdom as a whole and is collected by the Council of Mortgage Lenders. The figures in the table include properties that are surrendered voluntarily.
	
		
			  Mortgages at end of period (Number) Properties taken into possession (Number) Properties taken into possession (Percentage all loans) 
		
		
			 1995 10,521,000 49,410 0.47 
			 1996 10,637,000 42,560 0.40 
			 1997 10,738,000 32,770 0.31 
			 1998 10,821,000 33,870 0.31 
			 1999 10,982,000 29,990 0.27 
			 2000 11,173,000 22,870 0.20 
			 2001 11,247,000 18,280 0.16 
			 2002 11,364,000 11,970 0.11 
			 2003 11,452,000 7,830 0.07 
			 2004 11,512,000 6,230 0.05 
			 2005 11,591,000 10,250 0.09 
		
	
	Source:
	Council of Mortgage Lenders

National Affordable Housing Scheme

Lynne Featherstone: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister 
	(1)  what funding will be allocated in housing units built or procured in each Government office region through the National Affordable Housing Scheme in 2006–07 and 2007–08, broken down by (a) mixed funding social rented housing, (b) temporary social rented housing, (c) homebuy general market purchase, (d) homebuy general new build, (e) mixed funded general low-cost ownership for sale, (f) miscellaneous works to registered social landlord (RSL) stock, (g) improvement to rented RSL stock, (h) works-only rehabilitation of rented RSL stock, (i) works-only rehabilitation of RSL stock for sale, (j) intermediate rented accommodation for key workers, (k) homebuy market purchase for key workers, (l) homebuy new build for key workers, (m) the London challenge teacher market purchase homebuy, (n) mixed funded sale for key workers and (o) starter home initiative;
	(2)  how many affordable housing units will be built or procured through the National Affordable Housing Programme in each Government office region in 2006–08; and how many will be accounted for by (a) mixed funded social rented housing, (b) temporary social rented housing, (c) homebuy general market purchase, (d) homebuy general new build, (e) mixed funded general low-cost ownership for sale, (f) miscellaneous works to registered social landlord (RSL) stock, (g) reimprovement to rented RSL stock, (h) works-only rehabilitation of rented RSL stock, (i) works-only rehabilitation of RSL stock for sale, (j) intermediate rented accommodation for key workers, (k) homebuy market purchase for key workers, (l) homebuy new build for key workers, (m) the London challenge teacher market purchase homebuy, (n) mixed funded sale for key workers and (o) starter home initiative.

Yvette Cooper: The Housing Corporation's regional offices will be publishing initial allocation statements by mid-April. In May, they intend to publish their final allocation statements which will contain the aforementioned requested information. Both the initial allocation statement and the final allocation statement for each region will be available on the Housing Corporation's website www.housingcorp.gov.uk

Planning

Eric Pickles: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what estimate he has made of the number of change of use planning applications made in each of the last five years (a) in total and (b) for premises that were previously categorised as in (i) domestic and (ii) business use.

Yvette Cooper: The total number of decisions on change of use planning applications for each of the last five years is given in the following table. Data are not collected about the nature of the previous use.
	
		Thousand
		
			  'Change of use' decisions 
		
		
			 2000–01 37.5 
			 2001–02 37.8 
			 2002–03 36.8 
			 2003–04 36.9 
			 2004–05 36.3

Planning

Eric Pickles: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister pursuant to the answer of 13 March 2006, Official Report, column 1956W, on planning (schools), how many planning appeals the Planning Inspectorate considered in the most recent year for which figures are available in relation to planning applications made by schools.

Yvette Cooper: The Planning Inspectorate decided 21 appeals made by schools during the period 1 January to 31 December 2005 of which 14 were allowed and seven were dismissed.

Response Times (Fire Engines)

Jeremy Browne: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what the average response time is for fire engines to get to an emergency call-out in (a) England and (b) Taunton constituency.

Jim Fitzpatrick: The available information covers attendance at primary fires only. 2004 is the latest year for which finalised data are published.
	(a) The average response time to primary fires attended by fire and rescue services in the UK in 2004 was 6.8 minutes. This is measured from time of first call to the fire and rescue service to time of arrival at the scene.
	(b) Data are not available at constituency level. The average response time to primary fires attended by Somerset fire and rescue service in 2004 was 9.2 minutes.

Wellingborough (Development)

Peter Bone: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister if he will visit Wellingborough to discuss local housing development and infrastructure.

Yvette Cooper: holding answer 18 April 2006
	Wellingborough plays an important part in the growth proposals for North Northamptonshire. We are kept regularly updated on development of the plans to take these forward and I chair the regular Milton Keynes and South Midlands Inter Regional Board. In addition, officials are closely involved with the borough council and other partners in bringing forward housing, growth and other agendas. There have already been a number of ministerial visits to North Northamptonshire and more are planned. Ministers from the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister are more than happy to discuss housing development and infrastructure provision in Wellingborough during future visits to Northamptonshire.

ENVIRONMENT FOOD AND RURAL AFFAIRS

Capita Group

Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how much business her Department has placed with (a) Capita Group plc and (b) its subsidiaries in each of the last five years; what the total value is of outstanding contracts placed with Capita Group plc and its subsidiaries by her Department; for which current tenders issued by her Department (i) Capita Group plc and (ii) its subsidiaries have been invited to bid; and whether (A) Capita Group plc and (B) its subsidiaries have seconded staff (1) temporarily and (2) on a longer-term basis to (X) her Department and (Y) any of its agencies.

Jim Knight: From information held centrally, the core-Department has dealt with seven Capita Group plc subsidiaries over the financial years 2001–02 to 2005–06 (April 2005 to December 2005) inclusive. The value of these contracts is as follows:
	
		
			  Financial years 
			 Vendor name 2001–02 2003–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 (April to December) Total 
		
		
			 Capita Business Services Ltd. 511,230.76 406,048.24 467,751.86 505,693.43 21,749.45 1,912,473.74 
			 Capita DBS Ltd. 440,211.10 10,635.32 — — — 450,846.42 
			 Capita Health Solutions Ltd. — — — — 8,263.19 8,263.19 
			 Capita HR and Financial Resourcing — — — 14,747.63 — 14,747.63 
			 Capita Property Consultancy Ltd. — 82,663.84 75,209.37 — — 157,873.21 
			 Capita Resourcing Ltd. — — — 40,774.76 313,935.31 354,710.07 
			 Capita Symonds Ltd. 138,426.68 — — 80,670.48 216,581.51 435,678.67 
			 Total 1,089,868.54 499,347.40 542,961.23 641,886.30 560,529.46 3,334,592.93 
		
	
	The core Department does not hold information centrally of what the total value is of outstanding contracts placed with Capita Group plc and its subsidiaries by the Department and the information could be provided only at disproportionate cost. Similarly, the core Department does not hold information centrally of which current tenders issued by the Department that Capita Group plc and its subsidiaries have been invited to bid against. From information held centrally, the core Department is unaware of any staff from Capita Group plc and its subsidiaries being seconded either temporarily or on a longer term basis to the core Department.
	The core Department does not hold information centrally identifying contracts and contractual expenditure with Capita Group and its subsidiaries by each of its non-departmental public bodies, executive agencies, independent statutory bodies and organisations and bodies financially sponsored by the core Department.

Capita Group

James Brokenshire: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what the value of contracts held by her Department with (a) Capita plc and (b) its subsidiaries was in the last three financial years.

Jim Knight: From information held centrally, the core Department has dealt with a total of seven Capita Group plc subsidiaries over the financial years 2001–02 to 2005–06 (April 2005 to December 2005) inclusive. The figures are as follows:
	
		
			  Financial years 
			 Vendor name 2001–02 2003–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 (April to December) Total 
		
		
			 Capita Business Services Ltd. 511,230.76 406,048.24 467,751.86 505,693.43 21,749.45 1,912,473.74 
			 Capita DBS Ltd. 440,211.10 10,635.32 — — — 450,846.42 
			 Capita Health Solutions Ltd. — — — — 8,263.19 8,263.19 
			 Capita HR and Financial Resourcing — — — 14,747.63 — 14,747.63 
			 Capita Property Consultancy Ltd. — 82,663.84 75,209.37 — — 157,873.21 
			 Capita Resourcing Ltd. — — — 40,774.76 313,935.31 354,710.07 
			 Capita Symonds Ltd. 138,426.68 — — 80,670.48 216,581.51 435,678.67 
			 Total 1,089,868.54 499,347.40 542,961.23 641,886.30 560,529.46 3,334,592.93

Capita Group

James Brokenshire: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many tenders (a) Capita plc and (b) its subsidiaries have submitted to her Department in each of the last three years; and how many tenders were successful.

Jim Knight: The information requested is not held centrally by the core Department and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

Capita Group

James Brokenshire: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many contracts her Department holds with (a) Capita plc and (b) its subsidiaries which still have a potential duration of five years or more.

Jim Knight: From information held centrally, no contracts between the core Department and Capita Group plc and its subsidiaries have a potential duration of five years or more.

Climate Change

Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what factors led her to conclude that the announcement on 28 March 2006 on the UK Climate Change Programme 2006 was best made through a written rather than an oral statement to the House.

Elliot Morley: The written statement made by the Secretary of State on the day provided a full account of the review process and the scope of the new Climate Change Programme. A copy of the Programme was placed in the Library. This approach was thought to provide the House with full and speedy information about the Programme.

Farming Link

Henry Bellingham: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what the cost was of (a) production and (b) distribution of the latest edition of her Department's Farming Link publication; and how many copies were produced.

Jim Knight: The cost of producing the March edition of Farmer's Link was £70,505. It was circulated to 170,000 recipients, including all farmers and growers.
	This means that the March edition—which included 31 different news items and articles—cost around 41 pence per copy.

Flooding

Anne McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if the Government will take steps to provide insurance to householders and businesses which are repeatedly flooded where insurance indemnities exclude cover.

Elliot Morley: There are no plans for the Government to provide flood insurance cover. As I explained in my answer to the hon. Member on 16 March 2006, Official Report, column 2397W, this remains broadly available to households in areas at risk of flooding in accordance with the Association of British Insurers' Statement of Principles. In some cases property-owners in areas of higher flood risk can take additional measures to enable them to obtain insurance, for example by investing in individual protection products to reduce potential damage to their property. The Environment Agency provides advice on these.

Government Offices (Energy Consumption)

Nicholas Winterton: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what advice her Department has issued to other Government Departments on the reduction of energy consumption in offices; and whether advice has been issued on the setting of average room temperature for offices.

Elliot Morley: Defra has not issued any advice to other Departments on reduction of energy consumption in offices, or on the setting of average room temperatures for offices. The onus lies with each Department to decide how best they can make energy and carbon savings, against cross Government targets set out in the Framework for Sustainable Development on the Government estate. Practical advice on energy saving is available to Departments through the Carbon Trust.

Government Offices (Energy Consumption)

Nicholas Winterton: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs whether her Department has adopted an ambient room temperature for its offices.

Elliot Morley: During early 2006, Defra has been running the 'BIG SWITCH' energy efficiency campaign in its' offices, with the focus on eliminating waste and reducing carbon emissions. One element of the campaign has involved closer monitoring and control of ambient temperatures in our buildings. This has been informed by guidance issued by the Carbon Trust, who advise that for every 1oC of over-heating, fuel consumption increases by 8 to 10 per cent.

Oilseed Rape

John Cummings: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many acres were given over to the growing of oilseed rape in England in the last five years.

Jim Knight: The information is as follows:
	
		Hectares
		
			  Winter oilseed rape Spring oilseed rape 
		
		
			 2001 306,405 60,793 
			 2002 305,770 18,733 
			 2003 367,014 55,365 
			 2004 386,515 68,911 
			 2005 455,173 24,781

Pesticides

David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what plans she has to carry out further research into the possible link between cancer and pesticides use.

Elliot Morley: The Government undertake a programme of research into pesticides and the potential human health effects of exposure to them. As part of this programme, we have commissioned a specific analysis of existing epidemiological research on cohorts of workers in pesticides manufacturing plants regarding possible links to prostate cancer.
	Both the Department of Health's Committee on Carcinogenicity of Chemicals in Food, Consumer Products and the Environment (COG) and the Advisory Committee on Pesticides monitor the relevant scientific literature for emergency issues. The research programme is reviewed in the light of advice from these committees.
	The Government are also currently considering its response to the Royal Commission on Environmental Pollution (RCEP) report on 'Crop Spraying and the Health of Residents and Bystanders'. The Government may commission new research as a result of this although no decisions have yet been taken.

World Cup (Complimentary Tickets)

Greg Hands: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many complimentary tickets her Department has received for games taking place at the FIFA World Cup 2006 in Germany.

Jim Knight: None.

EDUCATION AND SKILLS

Foreign Students

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many foreign students have travelled to England for university education in each of the last 10 years.

Bill Rammell: The latest available figures are given in the table. The figures in part reflect the success of the Prime Minister's initiative to increase the number of non-EU overseas students who come to study in the UK. Between 1996/97 and 2002/03 non-EU overseas students increased by 56,000.
	
		Students(1) from overseas studying at English higher education institutions 1994/95 to 2004/05
		
			  Students from: 
			  EU Non-EU Total 
		
		
			 1994/95 49,130 75,890 125,020 
			 1995/96 65,130 86,590 151,720 
			 1996/97 67,135 86,605 153,745 
			 1997/98 74,400 92,740 167,140 
			 1998/99 79,435 92,875 172,315 
			 1999/2000 79,640 97,500 177,140 
			 2000/01 79,270 107,035 186,310 
			 2001/02 73,890 117,935 191,825 
			 2002/03 72,490 142,660 215,150 
			 2003/04 70,775 161,250 232,030 
			 2004/05 78,365 163,750 242,115 
		
	
	(1) Numbers have been rounded to the nearest 5, so components may not sum to totals. Figures are based on a snapshot count of students at 1 December in each academic year. The figures include incoming and exchange students who study part, as opposed to all, of their course at an English HEI.
	Source:
	Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA).

Higher Education

Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many people in Coventry, South went on to higher education in (a) 2004 and (b) 2005; and what proportion went to university.

Bill Rammell: The latest available figures on participation in higher education by constituency were published by the Higher Education Funding Council for England in January 2005 in "Young Participation in England", which is available from their website at: http://www.hefce.ac.uk/pubs/hefce/2005/05_03/ This report shows participation rates for young people who enter higher education aged 18 or 19, disaggregated by constituency, for the years 1997 to 2000. It does not distinguish between those who entered universities and those who entered other higher education institutions. The figures for Coventry South, and the comparable figure for England, are shown in the table. HEFCE have not produced figures beyond 2000.
	
		Young Participation Rate (YPR (A)) in higher education
		
			  1997 1998 1999 2000 
		
		
			 Year cohort aged 18 in Coventry,  South (number) 1,100 1,150 1,150 1,110 
			 Participation rate for Coventry,  South(2) (percentage) 32 32 32 32 
			 Participation rate for England  (percentage) 29.2 28.8 29.2 29.9 
		
	
	(2) Participation rates for constituencies are reported to the nearest whole number.
	Source:
	Higher Education Funding Council for England.
	The total numbers of entrants from Coventry, South for each year since 2001/02 are given in the table:
	
		Entrants to undergraduate courses from Coventry South
		
			  2001/02 2002/03 2003/04 2004/05 
		
		
			 Aged 18–19 445 420 425 485 
			 Aged over 19 570 695 775 930 
			 Total entrants 1,015 1,115 1,200 1,415 
		
	
	Source:
	Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA). Numbers have been rounded to the nearest 5.
	The Department uses the Higher Education Initial Participation Rate (HEIPR) to assess progress on increasing first-time participation of English students aged 18–30 in higher education towards 50 per cent.: the latest provisional figure for 2004/05 is 42 per cent. The HEIPR is not calculated at constituency level.

Higher Education

Graham Stuart: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what proportion of people in Beverley and Holderness went on to higher education in (a) 2004 and (b) 2005; what proportion went to university; and if she will make a statement.

Bill Rammell: The latest available figures on participation in higher education by constituency were published by the Higher Education Funding Council for England in January 2005 in "Young Participation in England", which is available from their website at: http://www.hefce.ac.uk/pubs/hefce/2005/05_03/. This report shows participation rates for young people who enter higher education aged 18 or 19, disaggregated by constituency, for the years 1997 to 2000. It does not distinguish between those who entered universities and those who entered other higher education institutions. The figures for Beverley and Holderness, and the comparable figure for England, are shown in the table. HEFCE have not produced figures beyond 2000.
	
		Young participation rate (YPR (A)) in higher education
		
			  1997 1998 1999 2000 
		
		
			 Year cohort aged 18 in Beverley  and Holderness 1,180 1,260 1,220 1,170 
			 Participation rate for Beverley  and Holderness(3) (percentage) 33 30 31 31 
			 Participation rate for England  (percentage) 29.2 28.8 29.2 29.9 
		
	
	(3) Participation rates for constituencies are reported to the nearest whole number.
	Source:
	Higher Education Funding Council for England.
	The total numbers of entrants from Beverley and Holderness for each year since 2001/02 are given in the table:
	
		Entrants to undergraduate courses from Beverley and Holderness
		
			  2001/02 2002/03 2003/04 2004/05 
		
		
			 Aged 18–19 420 445 410 440 
			 Aged over 19 865 810 715 870 
			 Total entrants 1,290 1,260 1,125 1,310 
		
	
	Note:
	Numbers have been rounded to the nearest 5, so components may not sum to totals.
	Source:
	Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA).
	The Department uses the Higher Education Initial Participation Rate (HEIPR) to assess progress on increasing first-time participation of English students aged 18–30 in higher education towards 50 per cent.: the latest provisional figure for 2004/05 is 42 per cent. The HEIPR is not calculated at constituency level.

Ministerial Activities

Sarah Teather: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many (a) public speeches and (b) official visits she has made since 5 May 2005; and how many letters she sent in this period.

Ruth Kelly: Between 5 May 2005 and 2 March 2006, I have made 49 public speeches, been on 49 official visits and replied to 2,014 letters.
	All official speeches and visits are conducted in accordance with the ministerial code.

Overseas Universities

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many English students have travelled outside the UK for university education in each of the last 10 years.

Bill Rammell: The latest available information is given in the table. Comparable figures for students who study the whole of their course overseas are not held centrally.
	
		Undergraduates from England studying part of their course overseas
		
			 Academic year Number(4) 
		
		
			 1994/95 2,075 
			 1995/96 2,785 
			 1996/97 3,365 
			 1997/98 3,100 
			 1998/99 3,860 
			 1999/2000 4,640 
			 2000/01 4,030 
			 2001/02 4,140 
			   
			 2002/03 8,040 
			 2003/04 7,950 
			 2004/05 7,590 
		
	
	(4) The figures up to 2001/02 include students on exchange schemes which involve studying abroad for the whole of the year; students studying abroad for part of the year, or studying abroad on non-exchange schemes are excluded. Figures for 2002/03 and later years include all students on study years abroad for all or part of the year, except those on industrial placements.
	Note:
	Figures are based on a snapshot count of students at 1 December in each academic year.
	Source:
	Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA). Figures have been rounded to the nearest 5.

Rawtenstall Campus

Janet Anderson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills if she will investigate the sale of the Rawtenstall campus site by Accrington and Rossendale college; and whether she is satisfied the college has achieved best value as required by the Learning and Skills Council.

Bill Rammell: The capital disposal receipt generated from the sale of Accrington and Rossendale College's Rawtenstall site was less than 5 per cent. of the college's annual turnover.
	Under the terms of the Learning and Skills Council's (LSC) financial memorandum with the college, this sale, as a result of its value, did not require LSC consent. It is therefore the responsibility of the college and its corporation to ensure that it has achieved best value when disposing of its Rawtenstall campus.

Student Discipline

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many recorded incidents of antisocial behaviour took place in universities in (a) Havering, (b) Greater London and (c) England in each of the last 10 years.

Bill Rammell: Information on the incidence of antisocial behaviour at higher education institutions is not collected centrally.

Sure Start/Children's Centres

David Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what services are provided by children's centres; and if she will make a statement.

Beverley Hughes: Sure Start Children's Centres deliver a range of integrated services to children under five and their families including health and family support services and advice and support for the unemployed through effective links with Jobcentre Plus. Those children's centres located in the 30 per cent. most disadvantaged areas must also provide integrated early learning and daycare.
	At 31 March 2006 there were 836 Sure Start Children's Centres. All are located in the 30 per cent. most disadvantaged areas bringing integrated services to around 657,000 children under five and their families. We have exceeded our target agreed in the 2002 Spending Review which was to enable 650,000 children to access children's centre services by that date.

Sure Start/Children's Centres

David Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what the total expenditure on (a) Sure Start and (b) Children's Centres was in each year since 2001–02; what expenditure is planned in each category in each year to 2008–09; and if she will make a statement.

Bill Rammell: Details of actual and planned expenditure on Sure Start, childcare and nursery education to 2007–08 are published in Table 12.2 of the Department for Education and Skills' Departmental Report (Cm 6522). To reflect the increasing integration of services for young children and families, from 2003–04 funding for childcare and nursery education was merged into Sure Start funding:
	
		£ million
		
			 Financial Year Sure Start Childcare Nursery Education Total 
		
		
			 2001–02 134 109 224 467 
			 2002–03 216 158 306 680 
			 2003–04(5) 721 721 
			 2004–05(6) 927 927 
			 2005–06 1,140 1,140 
			 2006–07 1,696 1,696 
			 2007–08 1,809 1,809 
		
	
	(5) From 2003–04, all funding to deliver the free nursery education entitlement was incorporated into what is now called the Early Years element of the of the Dedicated Schools' Grant (formerly known as the under 5 sub-block for the Education Formula Spending Share).
	(6) Outturn in DfES Resource Accounts 2004–05 (HC 686)
	Within the Sure Start budget, increasing amounts of money have been allocated to local authorities to help establish our network of Children's Centres, delivering a wide range of early learning, childcare, health and family support. The delivery of 1st phase Children's Centres began in 2003–04 with £1.9 million revenue and £2.2 million capital being spent by local authorities on Children's Centres in that year. For the period 2004–06, the memorandum of grant letter to all local authorities allocated £111 million revenue and £315 million capital over the two year period to continue the delivery of phase 1 Children's Centres. In addition to this funding, we allocated £313 million capital to Sure Start local programmes (SSLP) in 2004–06 and we expect that this budget would have been largely used to facilitate the evolution for all SSLPs to become Children's Centres.
	For 2006–08, we have streamlined the majority of funding streams within the General Sure Start Grant (GSSG) to give local authorities more flexibility in facilitating local childcare markets and developing early years and childcare services to deliver the Ten Year Childcare Strategy. The GSSG main revenue and capital allocations are £596 million and £421 million in 2006/07 and £664 million and £392 million in 2007/08. The GSSG allocations are for local authorities to fund children centres and provide support for extended schools and sustainable early years and childcare provision to meet parental demand for childcare in their local areas. Local authorities have the freedom to decide how much they wish to spend on each area based on the knowledge of their local market.
	Allocations from 2008 onwards will only be announced in the comprehensive spending Review 2007.

Sure Start/Children's Centres

David Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what monitoring of the effectiveness of Sure Start is being undertaken; and if she will make a statement.

Beverley Hughes: There is a comprehensive national level evaluation of Sure Start local programmes in place which began in January 2001, which will run until 2008. It examines the implementation, cost-effectiveness and impact of Sure Start on children, families and communities, in the short, medium and long-term. Fifteen reports have been published to date which have been instrumental in understanding what is effective for young children and families, and in designing and rolling out Sure Start children's centres.

Training Schools

Angela Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many schools in the (a) primary and (b) secondary sector will lose their designation as training schools in 2007.

Bill Rammell: From 2005, participation in the training schools programme is open to schools that successfully redesignate and meet the high performing specialist schools criteria.
	Seven secondary schools which redesignated in 2005 did not meet the criteria and have been told that their funding will cease when their current contract comes to an end in 2007. A further tranche of secondary schools will redesignate in 2006 and we do not yet know how many of these will meet the necessary criteria.
	Those training schools that are not yet specialist have been told that they should aim to become specialist schools before their contract expires.
	We are considering with the Training and Development Agency (TDA) how to retain in the system the expertise built up by existing training schools.
	Primary schools will no longer be able to apply directly for training school status, but the TDA are currently considering the development of a primary initiative.

University Lecturers (Industrial Action)

David Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what assessment she has made of the effect of university lecturers' industrial action on (a) university graduations and (b) university students in 2005–06.

Bill Rammell: We have made no such assessment. It is a matter for higher education institutions (HEIs), as autonomous bodies, to make these assessments and consider how best they can minimise the adverse effects of the current dispute. HEIs are responsible for determining their own academic and administrative affairs, including deciding what to pay their own staff. Pay and conditions of service are subject to negotiations between employers, their staff and their representative trade union bodies. The Government play no part in this.
	The Government would encourage both employers and unions to reach a speedy resolution in relation to the current dispute, to ensure minimal further disruption to students.

University Lecturers (Industrial Action)

David Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what representations the Department has received from (a) individual students and (b) student bodies relating to the industrial action taken by university lecturers; and if she will make a statement.

Bill Rammell: The Department has received correspondence about university staff pay and the current dispute from students. However, as universities are autonomous, they are responsible for determining their own academic and administrative affairs, including deciding what to pay their own staff. Pay and conditions of service are subject to negotiations between employers, their staff and their representative trade union bodies. The Government play no part in this.

INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT

Coercive Abortion

David Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development pursuant to the Answer of 27 March 2006, Official Report, column 622W, on coercive abortion, when he next proposes to raise the issue of coercive abortion with the government of China; and if he will make a statement.

Gareth Thomas: While the UK Government do not question China's right or need to implement family planning policies, we are concerned about reports of enforced sterilisation and abortion. We believe that China's family planning policies should be based on the principle of consent, and not coercion, as set out by the International Conference on Population and Development.
	In February 2006, the EU raised with the Chinese Government, the case of Chen Guangcheng, a lawyer who highlighted reports of enforced sterilization and abortion in Linyi City, Shandong Province. We will continue to raise our concerns about reports of enforced sterilization and abortion in China, where appropriate.

Ethiopia

Anthony Steen: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what representations he has made to the Ethiopian Government on the need to release prisoners currently held without charge.

Ian Pearson: I have been asked to reply. 
	We have consistently urged the Ethiopian Government either to charge or to release detainees. My noble Friend the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, Lord Triesman of Tottenham, and my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for International Development have both made clear to Prime Minister Meles the need for a prompt, fair and open judicial process for those currently detained.

Ethiopia

Anthony Steen: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what financial aid has been given to Ethiopia in each of the last three years; and what funding is proposed for 2006–07.

Hilary Benn: Total DFID aid to Ethiopia from the UK amounted to £43.3 million in 2003–04 and £62.56 million in 2004–05. We expect to spend approximately £61.73 million in 2005–06 and our planning figure for 2006–07 is £90 million subject to the developments of a new more accountable method of providing funds in the light of our concerns about political developments.

Sri Lanka

Sadiq Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development if he will make a statement on the progress of the UK's support for the Peace and Reconciliation in Sri Lanka strategy.

Gareth Thomas: The British Government supports peace building and reconciliation in Sri Lanka through a variety of programmes and activities. Its peace building and Reconciliation Strategy aims to describe the activities needed to establish the conditions necessary to sustain peace in Sri Lanka. It supports and complements the Norwegian facilitation between the Government of Sri Lanka and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE). The Strategy is agreed across the three Government Departments involved in the Global Conflict Prevention Pool and informs decisions on dispersing funds from that pool in Sri Lanka.
	Our programme includes support for UNICEF, OXFAM and Save the Children Fund, we are working to improve the access and quality of basic health and education services for communities in conflict affected districts. The goal is to ensure that these services are provided equitably across Sri Lanka, thus addressing one long held grievance, and to help return communities to normal peacetime conditions. Under these programmes 75,000 emergency education kits have been provided to schools in the North and East, student drop-out rates have reduced by 50 per cent. and over 1,800 child soldiers have been returned to their families. Psychosocial care is provided to these and other children affected by the conflict. Measles, Polio and DPT (Diphtheria-polio-tetanus immunisation) vaccination has been provided for all children in conflict affected areas and vitamin supplements to 90 per cent. of children. Some 88 per cent. of pregnant and lactating women now receive ante-natal care and nutrition supplements.
	To establish a more secure environment in the North and East, support for de-mining and mine awareness is provided through the United Nations and non-governmental organisations (NGOs). This has helped encourage some 500,000 conflict displaced people to return to their homes. Their return has been supported with grants of material and tools to rebuild homes and restart their livelihoods.
	We are also working with NGOs and civil society groups to reduce tensions within communities and to promote their resolution without resort to violence, including the implementation of an early warning mechanism to mitigate and prevent conflict in the east of Sri Lanka. To help these communities enjoy a more secure environment within which to pursue their livelihoods, we are working with the police and the security services to improve their awareness of human rights and adherence to international humanitarian law. Under the strategy, we also assist the Sri Lankan Human Rights Commission to provide increased access to justice for disadvantaged groups. Through the Asia Foundation, we are helping to strengthen legal institutions and processes at a local and national level by improving language skills for court staff, improving paralegal and advocacy skills for community based organisations and funding research into discrimination. This programme also includes support for public interest litigation relating to the protection of civil rights including for internally displaced persons (IDPs).
	We also provide support for peace building and reconciliation through our diplomatic engagement. The Government of Sri Lanka have expressed gratitude for Britain's constructive contribution in this area.

World Food Programme

Geoffrey Clifton-Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what recent discussions he has had with the World Food Programme on aid for those in (a) eastern Chad and (b) Sudan.

Hilary Benn: DFID is in regular contact with the World Food Programme (WFP) in Sudan and Chad, and monitors the food needs of the affected populations closely.
	For Chad, in 2005, the UK contributed £2 million to the WFP for their activities providing food assistance to Sudanese refugees in Eastern Chad. We will provide a further £1.25 million in 2006. For Sudan, where the scale of need is substantially greater, the UK contributed £11.2 million to the WFP in 2005, and we will continue our support in 2006 through the Common Humanitarian Fund (CHF). The UK will contribute £40 million to this pioneering multi-donor fund which is administered by the UN and will ensure the top humanitarian priorities across Sudan are funded. In the initial CHF allocation of £106 million, the WFP has received nearly $27 million for its activities.

WALES

Craig Goch Reservoir

Elfyn Llwyd: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what representations he has (a) made to and (b) received from the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs on the proposed expansion of the Craig Goch reservoir in the Elan valley; what discussions he has had on the matter with the Welsh Assembly; and what representations he has received.

Peter Hain: None. Any proposal to expand the Craig Goch reservoir would be subject to the approval of the National Assembly for Wales. However, neither the Welsh Assembly Government nor the Environment Agency are aware of any such plans.

Departmental Televisions

Jo Swinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales how many television sets are in operation in the Department (a) in total, (b) in Ministers' private offices and (c) in each building in the Department; and how many television licences are held by the Department.

Peter Hain: In total there are 11 TVs in operation at The Wales Office. Three of these are in the Ministers' private offices. There are nine in the London office and one in the Cardiff Office. There are two TV Licences held by The Wales Office.

Energy Efficiency

Nadine Dorries: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what steps he is taking to increase energy efficiency within his Department; and if he will make a statement.

Peter Hain: As part of the machinery of Government changes in June 2003 the Wales Office became a separate entity within the Department for Constitutional Affairs (DCA) The Wales Office is fully covered by the commitments outlined in the DCA's Sustainable Development Policy, which is on the DCA website:
	http://www.dca.gov.uk/dept/sustaindev/sustaindev.htm
	Locally the Wales Office has reinforced the need for all staff to be energy efficient by ensuring senior managers remind their teams, reissuing staff instructions to turn off all electrical equipment when not in use and deploying posters and publicity material from the Carbon Trust near electrical equipment and light switches.
	We have contacted the Carbon Trust which has agreed to carry out an energy audit of the office. We have provided the Carbon Trust with all relevant materials needed and await a date from it for a visit.

Principal Civil Service Pension Scheme

Philip Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what his Department's employer contribution rates to the Principal Civil Service pension scheme are; what assumed rate of return underlies those contribution rates; and what the contribution rate would be if the assumed rate of return was in line with current redemption yield on index-linked gilts.

Peter Hain: I refer the hon. Member to the reply given to him by my hon. Friend the Under-Secretary of State for the Cabinet Office (Mr. Murphy) on 29 March 2006, Official Report, column 1030.

World Cup (Complimentary Tickets)

Greg Hands: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales how many complimentary tickets his Department has received for games taking place at the FIFA World Cup 2006 in Germany.

Peter Hain: None. I will not be attending the 2006 World Cup Finals in Germany.

DEFENCE

Iraq

Nick Harvey: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence 
	(1)  what his estimate is of the number of (a) Shia, (b) Kurdish and (c) Sunni non-state militia in Iraq;
	(2)  what assessment he has made of the infiltration of national and local Iraqi security forces by sectarian militias.

John Reid: There are a variety of estimates of the size of the various Iraqi militias. But both these, and the extent of their influence, are difficult to assess with any accuracy. Ethnic, religious and tribal loyalties are widespread within Iraqi society and part of the reform and democratisation process of Iraqi institutions is the removal from office of those individuals whose loyalties are fundamentally not to the state. The capability of the Iraqi interior and defence ministries, and of the Iraqi Security Forces, will be important factors in assessing the conditions that will enable the transfer of responsibility for security to the Iraqi civilian authorities.

Iraq

Mark Hunter: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence 
	(1)  what estimate he has made of the number of British service personnel requiring medical treatment following active service in Iraq who have been advised to attend NHS hospital accident and emergency departments for treatment; and if he will make a statement;
	(2)  what estimate he has made of the number of British servicemen and servicewomen who have paid for private medical treatment following injuries incurred during active service in Iraq; and if he will make a statement.

Don Touhig: It is not the policy of the Ministry of Defence to advise service personnel requiring medical treatment following active service in Iraq to attend NHS hospital A and E departments for treatment. The Defence Medical Services (DMS) manages the medical treatment pathways for all members of the UK armed forces, both regulars and mobilised reservists, who require medical treatment as a result of active service and makes all the necessary arrangements to ensure that it is delivered. There are of course other occasions where service personnel resident in the United Kingdom will present to A and E departments for emergency treatment of injuries and illnesses; service personnel are entitled to NHS care, including emergency care, and this is set out in the Department of Health's Establishing the Responsible Commissioner document.
	The DMS has a number of referral options depending upon the nature of the medical treatment required. For example, the DMS refers service personnel with complex musculoskeletal or neurological needs requiring hospital care to one of the six Ministry of Defence Hospital Units (MDHUs) embedded within NHS trusts or to non-MDHU NHS facilities if the location and availability of clinical service is more socially convenient and clinically appropriate for the patient than MDHU care. Service personnel with moderate/minor musculoskeletal injuries who have been assessed and have a working diagnosis and a planned care pathway are referred to one of our 12 Regional Rehabilitation Units, while those with more complex rehabilitation needs are referred to the Defence Medical Rehabilitation Centre (DMRC) at Headley Court.
	I am aware of a very small number of cases where the system has not delivered the standards of care that we always endeavour to provide for military patients. The MOD takes all allegations of poor medical care very seriously, and will investigate any complaint that individual service personnel or ex-service personnel raise with us.
	It is not possible to provide an estimate of the number of British servicemen and servicewomen who have paid for private medical treatment following injuries incurred during active service in Iraq, as such information is not held centrally and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost. The armed forces do sometimes refer personnel for private care when this is considered appropriate. In such circumstances, the costs are borne by the Department. Whichever course of action is taken, it is with a view to ensuring that military patients are assessed and treated in a timely fashion and receive the optimal high quality treatment and rehabilitation to deliver the best possible outcome, including an early return to operational fitness when this is clinically possible.

Military Intelligence

Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence which units in the (a) Royal Navy, (b) Royal Air Force, (c) Army and (d) Department are involved primarily in activities related to military intelligence; and how many (i) military and (ii) civilian personnel serve in each such unit.

John Reid: Other than for the Defence Intelligence Staff (DIS) and the Intelligence Corps, the information requested is not held centrally. The DIS employs some 4,700 staff and of those 2,800 are military and 1,900 civilian. The military element includes personnel from all three services. Intelligence Corps figures were published in Hansard on 30 January 2006, Official Report, column 32W. However, a number of Intelligence Corps personnel are posted to the DIS.

Submarines (Astute Class)

Nick Harvey: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what estimate he has made of the cost of converting Astute class submarines to accommodate Trident II D5 (A) missiles.

John Reid: Work has been undertaken to keep options open in considering platforms to carry the Trident D5 missile in the longer term pending future decisions on any replacement for Trident. However, while decisions on any replacement for the Trident system are likely to be required in the current Parliament, they are still some way off. Initial preparatory work is being undertaken by officials on possible options for the future of the UK's nuclear deterrent. However, Ministers have not yet begun to consider the position on this issue in any detail and it is therefore too early to speculate, among other things, on the range of options that might be available and their potential costs.

TRADE AND INDUSTRY

2G Switch Off

Hugo Swire: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what discussions he has had with Ofcom on 2G switch off in the telecommunications market.

Alun Michael: There have been no such discussions to date, with Ministers or DTI officials.

Business Links

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what penalties there are for contractors breaking the statutory requirements of the Business Links service.

Alun Michael: There are no specific statutory instruments under which the Business Link services are provided. Business Link must comply with all statutory requirements set out in relevant Acts of Parliament.
	In addition, organisations delivering Business Link services receive funding from the regional development agencies on a contractual basis. The terms of these contracts provides the regional development agencies with the right of suspension or clawback of funding.
	The Business Link contract, originally agreed between the DTI and Business Link providers, has been managed by the regional development agencies since April 2005, and contains provisions for termination and breach.

Gas Supplies

John Hemming: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry pursuant to his statement during the debate on 14 March 2006, Official Report, column 1303, on gas supply and demand, what the source was of the statement that Germany's wholesale gas prices have increased by 80 per cent.

Malcolm Wicks: The sources of the statement are publicly available IMF data on Russian-German border prices over 2005 and Royal Bank of Scotland exchange rate data.

Gas Supplies

John Hemming: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry pursuant to his statements during the debate on 14 March 2006, Official Report, column 1303, on 16 February 2006, Official Report, column 1551 and on 12 January 2006, Official Report, column 486, on gas supply, how he calculated the figures regarding the costs of energy to British and German industry.

Malcolm Wicks: The statement on 12 January,
	"Our liberalised markets mean that the cost of industrial gas is also competitive. In the past 14 years, the cost of energy to British industry has been around £8 billion less than the cost to German industry"
	referred to the difference in cost were UK industry to have paid German prices for the gas they consumed over the period 1990 to 2004. The statistics for the prices to UK and German industries were taken from the IEA publication 'Energy Prices and Taxes' and Ofgem estimates, while the consumption of UK industry was taken from the IEA publication 'Energy Statistics of OECD countries'. A similar exercise undertaken by Ofgem came to the same figure.
	The statement on 16 February,
	"over the past 10 years British companies have paid £9 billion less for their energy than German companies, for instance, but there is an issue here that we need to tackle"
	referred to the difference in cost were UK industry to have paid German prices for the gas and electricity they consumed over the period 1995 to 2004. The statistics for the prices to UK and German industries were taken from the IEA publication 'Energy Prices and Taxes', while the consumption of UK industry was taken from the IEA publication 'Energy Statistics of OECD countries'.

National Council for Graduate Entrepreneurship

Mark Prisk: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what (a) annual running costs and (b) total costs to date have been incurred by the National Council for Graduate Entrepreneurship.

Alun Michael: holding answer 18 April 2006
	The Department of Trade and Industry Small Business Service and The Department for Education and Skills jointly fund the National Council for Graduate Entrepreneurship (NCGE). The NCGE is awarded a combined grant of £700,000 per year to fund its activities. The NCGE has just completed its second year and has received a total of £1,400,000.

Photovoltaic Industry

Andrew Stunell: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what steps he (a) is taking and (b) plans to take to support the UK based photovoltaic industry to compete in the international photovoltaics market; and if he will make a statement.

Malcolm Wicks: The Department has supported photovoltaics since 2000 through the £31 million major photovoltaic demonstration programme which ended in March 2006 and £10 million on field trials which are still to report. Photovoltaics will continue to receive support, along with other microgeneration technologies, through the new £80 million low carbon buildings programme over the next three years. In addition, the Government have just launched their microgeneration strategy which will seek to tackle non-grant barriers hindering development of sustainable markets for these technologies. This will include working with industry to develop a route map for each microgeneration technology. These measures will help the photovoltaic industry to continue to develop in the UK, building a platform for business to take decisions on international developments.

Telephone Preference Service

Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry whether change in legislation is being considered regarding the number of unsolicited nuisance telephone calls made to members of the public after an application has been processed to the Telephone Preference Service to ensure no such calls are made.

Alun Michael: holding answer 18 April 2006
	No change is being considered as under the Privacy and Electronic Communications (EC Directive) Regulations 2003, consumers are offered protection from unsolicited telephone sales calls through the Telephone Preference Service (TPS) scheme. This has proved to be an effective deterrent with 11.2 million registrations to date. No one is allowed to make an unsolicited telephone sales call to a subscriber who has either previously notified the caller that they do not wish to receive such calls or has been registered with the TPS scheme for at least 28 days.

Telephone Preference Service

Edward Davey: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what process was used to grant the contract to manage the telephone preference service registers to the Direct Marketing Association (DMA); and if he will place in the Library correspondence between his Department and the DMA on the matter.

Alun Michael: The matter raised is the responsibility of the Office of Communications (Ofcom). Ofcom is the independent regulatory for the communications sector, deriving its main powers and duties directly from statute rather than by delegation from my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State, and accountable to Parliament in its own right. The Chief Executive of Ofcom has pointed out that under the Privacy and Electronic Communications (EC Directive) Regulations 2003 ("the Regulations") Ofcom is required to maintain registers of the numbers allocated to subscribers who have notified Ofcom that they do not for the time being wish to receive unsolicited communications for direct marketing purposes by means of telephone (Telephone Preference Service) or fax (Fax Preference Service). Ofcom is permitted by the Regulations to make arrangements for the provision of the registers to be discharged by some other person.
	Ofcom undertook a full, competitive and open tender process prior to the award of the contract to Telephone Preference Service Limited (TPSL). The invitation to tender can be accessed at: http://www.ofcom.org.uk/about/jobs/contracts_tenders/mngd_fax_tgel_reg/.
	The invitation to tender includes: the aims and objectives for the registers; services and tender retirements; and minimum criteria for evaluation of tenders. I am informed by Ofcom that eight companies expressed an interest in tendering for the new contract, although three tenders were actually received by Ofcom. Having evaluated the tender and interviewed the bidders, Ofcom decided to award the new contract to TPSL, the existing provider of the registers.
	Accordingly, my officials have asked the Chief Executive Officer of Ofcom to reply to the hon. Member and to send me a copy of his response. Copies of the Chief Executive's letter will also be placed in the Libraries of the House.

Women Entrepreneurs

Iain Wright: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what steps his Department is taking to increase the number of women entrepreneurs in the North East.

Alun Michael: Greater levels of entrepreneurship are essential if we are to succeed by increasing economic growth, and female entrepreneurship can, make a crucial contribution in this growth. Because there are unique issues attaching to female entrepreneurship the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) has established the National Women's Enterprise task force, in association with women's business support organisation Prowess. The task force will champion women's enterprise issues across Government.
	Both directly and through regional development agency ONE NorthEast the Government supports a range of initiatives which are achieving increases in the numbers of entrepreneurs in the North East of England. Support provide through the Business Link network in the region, ongoing restructuring and simplification Government business support, and the £26.4 million to be shared by Easington, Derwentside, Wear Valley, Sedgefield and South Tyneside under the local enterprise growth initiative (LEGI) will all contribute to the encouragement of new business start-ups in the region.
	While many initiatives are aimed at all potential entrepreneurs, there are some which seek to increase opportunities, enhance levels of business skills and raise entrepreneurial aspirations specifically among the female population.
	For example:
	ONE North East in association with regional partners in the public and private sectors has drawn up the North East of England enterprise strategy. The strategy draws together the priorities for developing enterprise in the region and outlines and actions, timescales and responsibilities for their delivery with the aim of encouraging the region's entrepreneurs to create, develop and grow their enterprises. Recognising the importance of encouraging female entrepreneurs, a North East Women's enterprise action plan is currently being developed.
	ONE NorthEast backs the Women into the Network, which has already achieved success in encouraging an enhanced culture of entrepreneurship in the region by assisting the integration of aspiring women entrepreneurs into existing business networks.
	The Government announced this month that ONE NorthEast will receive £80,000 to establish a pilot Women's Enterprise unit, which will assess measures needed to accelerate rates of women's entrepreneurship in the North East of England.

CULTURE MEDIA AND SPORT

BBC

John Whittingdale: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport which services that the BBC proposes to offer will be subject to (a) a market impact assessment and (b) the public value test.

Tessa Jowell: The BBC's new Charter and Agreement will require the BBC Trust to subject all new services and significant changes to existing services to a public value test. Every public value test will include a market impact assessment.

British Sub-Aqua Club

Anthony Steen: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport if she will meet the elected officials of the British Sub-Aqua Club.

David Lammy: My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State has no current plans to meet the elected officials of the British Sub-Aqua Club.
	Officials from the Department for Culture, Media and Sport, and the chairman of the Advisory Committee on Historic Wreck Sites have recently met elected officials of the British Sub-Aqua Club (BSAC), among other diving organisations. Officials have been in regular correspondence with BSAC and are forming good working relationships over a variety of issues.

Freeview

Anne Snelgrove: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what steps are being taken to increase the number of households able to receive Freeview television in (a) South Swindon and (b) England.

James Purnell: Digital Switchover will enable digital terrestrial coverage to match the current 98.5 per cent. analogue level. Switchover for the HTV West region and the Central region will happen in the first half of 2010 and the first half of 2011 respectively.
	The Government have confirmed the regional timetable for the switchover to digital television and announced details of a support scheme to help the most vulnerable households to make the switch.
	Digital UK, an independent, not-for-profit company, will co-ordinate the implementation of digital switchover and ensure that consumers have timely and accurate information about the switch.

Joint Nautical Archaeology Policy Committee

Anthony Steen: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport on what dates she met the Joint Nautical Archaeology Policy Committee; who represented the committee; and whether they were (a) elected or (b) appointed.

David Lammy: My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State has not recently met the Joint Nautical Archaeology Policy Committee (JNAPC).
	I met Robert Yorke, the chair of the JNAPC, on 2 November 2005.
	Robert Yorke was elected as chairman of the JNAPC by the committee.

FOREIGN AND COMMONWEALTH AFFAIRS

Capita Group

Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how much business his Department has placed with (a) Capita Group plc and (b) its subsidiaries in each of the last five years; what the total value is of outstanding contracts placed with Capita Group plc and its subsidiaries by his Department; for which current tenders issued by his Department (i) Capita Group plc and (ii) its subsidiaries have been invited to bid; and whether (A) Capita Group plc and (B) its subsidiaries have seconded staff (1) temporarily and (2) on a longer-term basis to (X) his Department and (Y) any of its agencies.

Ian Pearson: In each of the last five financial years the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) has placed the following levels of business with Capita Group plc.
	
		
			  £ 
		
		
			 2001–02 1,198,500 
			 2002–03 763,300 
			 2003–04 565,100 
			 2004–05 199,300 
			 2005–06 860,500 
		
	
	In 2005–06 the FCO placed £44,000 of business with Veredus, a subsidiary of Capita Group plc.
	The total value of outstanding contracts with Capita Group plc is £321,116.
	The FCO has no current tenders ongoing which involve Capita Group plc or its subsidiaries.
	Neither the FCO nor its Executive Agency, Wilton Park, have seconded staff from Capita Group plc or its subsidiaries either temporarily or on a longer-term basis.

Capita Group

James Brokenshire: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what the value of contracts held by his Department with (a) Capita plc and (b) its subsidiaries was in the last three financial years.

Ian Pearson: The value of contracts held by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office with Capita plc in the last three financial years is:
	
		
			  £ 
		
		
			 2003–04 565,100 
			 2004–05 199,300 
			 2005–06 860,500 
		
	
	The value of contracts held with Veredus, a subsidiary of Capita plc, over the last three financial years is as follows:
	
		
			  £ 
		
		
			 2003–04 0 
			 2004–05 0 
			 2005–06 44,000

Ministerial Responses

David Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make it his policy when placing material in the Library in response to a parliamentary question to supply a copy of the material to the hon. Member who tabled the question; and if he will make a statement.

Jack Straw: Yes.

Political Memoirs

Peter Bottomley: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs pursuant to his evidence to the Public Administration Committee of 29 March 2006, HC 689-v, on publication of political memoirs, why and how he will arrange to dismiss an official or an adviser who keeps a daily diary; whether an official or an adviser may keep a journal; when that policy was first made; and when it was first made public.

Jack Straw: The Diplomatic Service Regulations do not prohibit the keeping of diaries by officials, and no official or adviser would be dismissed for doing so. My evidence to the Committee made clear that I do not object to the keeping of diaries in principle, only to their publication in disregard of the Regulations.

Self-Determination

Graham Brady: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs whether it is his Department's policy that the principle of self-determination can be (a) limited and (b) constrained by treaty.

Ian Pearson: holding answer 18 April 2006
	The Government supports the right or principle of self-determination reflecting the wishes of the people concerned. It should be exercised in accordance with the other principles and rights in the UN Charter and with other treaty obligations. This has been and continues to be the position of successive British Governments.

HOME DEPARTMENT

Child Immigrants (Detention)

John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the longest length of time is that a child who is being detained for immigration purposes has been held.

Tony McNulty: Information on the longest length of time that a child who is being detained solely under Immigration Act Powers is unavailable. Published statistics on immigration and asylum issues are available on the Home Office's Research Development and Statistics website: http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/immigration1.html.

Correspondence

Gerald Kaufman: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when he expects to answer the letter of 23 February from the right hon. Member for Manchester, Gorton, about Mrs. Eva Wilson.

Charles Clarke: I wrote to my right hon. Friend on 10 April 2006.

Home Detention Scheme

David Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many prisoners were released on the Home Detention Curfew scheme in 2004–05 for (a) less than one month, (b) one to two months, (c) two to three months, (d) three to four months and (e) over four months in each year since the scheme was introduced.

Fiona Mactaggart: Information on the number and percentage of prisoners released on Home Detention Curfew (HDC) by time to be spent on curfew, from 1999 to 2005, is given in the following tables.
	
		HDC releases with information on time to be served on HDC
		
			  1999 2000 2001 2002 
			  Actual Percentage Actual Percentage Actual Percentage Actual Percentage 
		
		
			 Less than one month (i.e. up to 30 days) 3,768 26 3,978 26 3,301 25 5,573 29 
			 One to two months (31 to 60 days inclusive) 10,740 74 11,170 74 9,935 75 12,817 67 
			 Two to three months (61 to 90 days inclusive) — — — — — — 875 5 
			 Three to four months (91 to 120 days inclusive) — — — — — — — — 
			 Four to four and a half months (121 to 136 days  inclusive) — — — — — — — — 
			 Total (excluding those with no valid centrally held  information) 14,508 100 15,148 100 13,236 100 19,265 100 
		
	
	
		
			  2003 2004 2005 
			  Actual Percentage Actual Percentage Actual Percentage 
		
		
			 Less than one month (i.e. up to 30 days) 5,564 29 5,266 30 4,329 27 
			 One to two months (31 to 60 days inclusive) 4,195 22 3,896 22 3,359 21 
			 Two to three months (61 to 90 days inclusive) 6,420 33 2,817 16 2,730 17 
			 Three to four months (91 to 120 days inclusive) 1,337 7 1,456 8 1 ,556 10 
			 Four to four and a half months (121 to 136 days  inclusive) 1,912 10 4,301 24 4,188 26 
			 Total (excluding those with no valid centrally held  information) 19,428 100 17,736 100 16,162 100 
		
	
	Notes:
	1. The table does not include those with no valid centrally held information on time to be spent on tag.
	2. These statistics are based on information recorded on the central Prison Service IT system on 1 April 2006.
	3. Further updates and amendments may be made to records on this system in future resulting in revised figures.
	4. Two changes were made to the scheme in 2002: the introduction of the Presumptive HDC scheme in May for prisoners serving between three months and under 12 months, and the increase of the maximum curfew period to 90 days on 16 December. On 14 July 2003 the maximum curfew period was increased to four and a half months.

Identity Cards Register

Nicholas Clegg: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department on what date the Identity Cards Register will commence operation.

Andy Burnham: No date has yet been determined for the commencement of the National Identity Register. This will depend on the progress of the procurement exercise.

Security Industry Authority

Eric Pickles: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many licence applications had been processed by the Security Industry Authority by 1 March.

Paul Goggins: The total number of fully processed licence applications by the Security Industry Authority at 1 March 2006 was 79,974.

World Cup (Complimentary Tickets)

Greg Hands: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many complimentary tickets his Department has received for games taking place at the FIFA World Cup 2006 in Germany.

Paul Goggins: The Home Office has not received any complimentary tickets for World Cup matches taking place in Germany this summer. The Home Secretary may attend matches, and may be accompanied by officials. However, no decisions have been made at this time.

TREASURY

Bank Accounts

Jim Cunningham: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many people in Coventry, South did not have access to a bank account on 31 December (a) 2005 and (b) 1997.

Ivan Lewis: The most recent data available that allows assessment to be made of the number of households with no access to a bank account is the Family Resources Survey from 2002–03. This indicates that 8 per cent. of households in the United Kingdom had no bank account of any kind. This equated to 1.9 million households containing around 2.8 million adults. This data is broken down to Government Office regional level. This shows 10 per cent. of households in the West Midlands were unbanked.
	In 1997–98, the Family Resources Survey was collected on a Great Britain basis, excluding Northern Ireland. 8 per cent. of households in the West Midlands were unbanked at that time compared to 8 per cent. of households in Great Britain as a whole.
	In December 2004, the Government and the banks agreed to work together towards the goal of halving the number of adults in households with no access to a bank account of any kind and of making significant progress within two years. The Financial Inclusion Taskforce has been asked to monitor progress. The taskforce recently made its first annual report, which concluded that steady progress has been made towards the goal but also encouraged banks to continue to address the difficulties faced in opening a bank account.

Bank Accounts

Ben Chapman: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will make a statement on the take-up of basic bank accounts.

Ivan Lewis: Following the report of Policy Action Team 14: Access to Financial Services in 1999, the banking industry worked with the Government to introduce the basic bank account which is specifically designed to address the needs of the financially excluded.
	The Government do not collect data on the numbers of basic bank accounts. The latest data from the British Bankers Association show that between April 2003 and December 2005, a net total of 1.64 million basic bank accounts were opened.
	The Family Resources Survey indicates that in 2002–03 8 per cent. Of households, containing around 2.8 million adults, had no access to a bank account of any kind.
	In December 2004, the Government and the banks agreed to work together towards the goal of halving the number of adults in households with no access to a bank account of any kind and of making significant progress within two years. The Financial Inclusion Taskforce recently made its first annual report on progress towards the goal, which concluded that steady progress has been made but also encouraged banks to continue to address the difficulties faced in opening a bank account.

Birth Rate (UK/EU)

David Amess: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what his latest estimate is of the birth rate per 1,000 women in (a) the UK and (b) other EU member states; and what forecast he has made for each of the next 20 years.

John Healey: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician who has been asked to reply.
	Letter from Karen Dunnell, dated 19 April 2006
	As National Statistician I have been asked to reply to your question regarding, estimates of the birth rate per 1,000 women in (a) the UK and (b) other EU member states; and what forecast has been made for each of the next 20 years. (64019)
	Table A below shows the number of births per 1,000 women aged 15 to 44 (the general fertility rate) in the UK in 2004 and the latest projections for the next 20 years.
	General fertility rates for other EU member states are not readily available. However, Eurostat publish total fertility rates for each country annually (the total fertility rate measures the average number of children who would be born to a group of women if current age-specific fertility rates persisted throughout their lives). Estimates for 2004 are shown in Table B. Eurostat's latest projections of future total fertility rates are available at: http://epp.eurostat.cec.eu.int/portal/page?_pageid=0,113618,0_ 45572595&_dad=portal&_schema=PORTAL
	
		Table A: Births per 1,000 women aged 15 to 44, United Kingdom
		
			  General fertility rate(7) 
		
		
			 Actual  
			 2004 57.7 
			 Projected  
			 2004–05 57.7 
			 2005–06 56.8 
			 2006–07 56.3 
			 2007–08 56.1 
			 2008–09 56.1 
			 2009–10 56.3 
			 2010–11 56.7 
			 2011–12 57.2 
			 2012–13 57.6 
			 2013–14 58.1 
			 2014–15 58.7 
			 2015–16 59.2 
			 2016–17 59.7 
			 2017–18 60.1 
			 2018–19 60.2 
			 2019–20 60.1 
			 2020–21 59.9 
			 2021–22 59.6 
			 2022–23 59.4 
			 2023–24 59.1 
		
	
	(7) Births per 1,000 women aged 15 to 44
	Sources:
	Actual: ONS
	Projections: 2004-based national population projections, GAD
	
		Table B: Total fertility rates, EU member states, 2004
		
			  Total fertility rate(8) 
		
		
			 Austria 1.42 
			 Belgium 1.64 
			 Cyprus 1.49 
			 Czech Republic 1.23 
			 Denmark 1.78 
			 Estonia 1.40 
			 Finland 1.80 
			 France 1.90 
			 Germany 1.37 
			 Greece 1.29 
			 Hungary 1.28 
			 Ireland 1.99 
			 Italy 1.33 
			 Latvia 1.24 
			 Lithuania 1.26 
			 Luxembourg 1.70 
			 Malta 1.37 
			 Netherlands 1.73 
			 Poland 1.23 
			 Portugal 1.42 
			 Slovakia 1.25 
			 Slovenia 1.22 
			 Spain 1.32 
			 Sweden 1.75 
			 United Kingdom(9) 1.77 
		
	
	(8) The average number of children who would be born to a group of women if current age-specific fertility rates persisted throughout their lives.
	(9) ONS estimate provided for UK
	Sources:
	Eurostat, ONS(10)

Birth Rate (UK/EU)

David Amess: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what discussions he has had with the European Union about falling birth rates; and if he will make a statement.

John Healey: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician who has been asked to reply.
	Letter from Karen Dunnell, dated 19 April 2006
	As National Statistician I have been asked to reply to your question about what discussions have taken place with the European Union about falling birth rates. (64021)
	The National Statistics Centre for Demography at ONS participates, with colleagues in other European countries and at Eurostat, in scientific discussions of fertility trends across Europe. In particular, there have been consultations between Eurostat and member states on the fertility assumptions underlying Eurostat's latest set of population projections for EU member states.

Cancer Treatment

James Duddridge: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer 
	(1)  how many cases of (a) upper gastro-intestinal, (b) urological, (c) head and neck, (d) breast, (e) lung, (f) prostate, (g) stomach, (h) colon and (i) bowel cancer in 2005 were treated in each cancer network, expressed as (i) an absolute figure and (ii) as a proportion of the population covered by the network;
	(2)  how many cases of (a) female cancers and (b) male cancers were treated in each cancer network in 2005, expressed as (i) an absolute figure and (ii) a proportion of the population covered by the network.

John Healey: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician, who has been asked to reply.
	Letter from Karen Dunnell, dated 19 April 2006
	As National Statistician I have been asked to reply to your recent Parliamentary Questions asking (1) how many cases of (a) upper gastro-intestinal, (b) urological, (c) head and neck, (d) breast, (e) lung, (f) prostate, (g) stomach, (h) colon and (i) bowel cancer in 2005 were treated in each cancer network, expressed as (i) an absolute figure and (ii) as a proportion of the population covered by the network and (2) how many cases of (a) female cancers and (b) male cancers were treated in each cancer network in 2005, expressed as (i) an absolute figure and (ii) a proportion of the population covered by the network. (63669 & 63671)
	Nationally comparable incidence rates are available for England, Government Office Regions, and Strategic Health Authorities (but not for other areas such as cancer networks). The latest year for which figures are available by single years for Strategic Health Authorities (SHAs) is 2002. These can be found on the Clinical and Health Outcomes Knowledge Base website at the address below, for the following cancer sites: skin, malignant melanoma, bladder, colorectal, lung, oesophagus and stomach (for both sexes), breast and cervix (for females), and prostate (for males). http://www.nchod.nhs.uk/

Census Records

Mike Hancock: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many applications were received by the Registrar General for a search of the closed decennial census records for (a) 1901 and (b) 1911 in each year from 1994 to 2005; and what average number of staff hours was required for searches in that period.

John Healey: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician who has been asked to reply.
	Letter from Karen Dunnell, dated 19 April 2006
	As National Statistician, I have been asked to reply to your recent question asking how many applications were received for a search of the closed decennial census records for a) 1901 and b) 1911 in each year from 1994 to 2005; and what was the average man-hours required for an individual search in that period. (63314)
	a) 1901 Census
	I have listed the number of applications by individual year from 1997 to 2001. For 1994–1996 the information relates only to the number of searches carried out as information on the number of applications is no longer available. The 1901 Census was opened to the public in January 2002.
	
		
			  1901 year Number of applications Number which resulted in search 
		
		
			 1994 (11)— 629 
			 1995 (11)— 578 
			 1996 (11)— 437 
			 1997 222 211 
			 1998 227 213 
			 1999 179 172 
			 2000 149 144 
			 2001 63 62 
		
	
	(11) Not available
	These numbers refer to applications made under concessions announced in Parliament in 1972 and 1989. The details of the concessions as reported in Hansard are attached for reference.
	The average man-hours for a search of the 1901 Census records was originally 2 hours. This included travelling time and administration time for supplying the information. The average reduced to 1 hour when the records had been microfilmed and no travelling time was involved.
	b) 1911 Census
	The numbers of applications for a search of the 1911 Census are listed below.
	
		
			  Number of applications Number which resulted in a search 
		
		
			 1994 5 4 
			 1995 1 1 
			 1996 3 2 
			 1997 5 3 
			 1998 3 0 
			 1999 0 0 
			 2000 0 0 
			 2001 1 0 
			 2002 1 0 
			 2003 2 0 
			 2004 2 0 
			 2005 (under FOI) 2 0 
		
	
	From 1994–2004 the numbers relate to applications made under a concession announced in 1993. The numbers for 1997–2004 revise the information supplied in the reply to your similar question in July 2005 as a result of further research. Not all of the applications resulted in a search. There were some cases where the Registrar General was not satisfied that all the conditions were fulfilled; in some instances the applicants decided not to pursue their application. From 2005 applications were made under the Freedom of Information Act. The number of applications is significantly lower than for 1901 because the concession which allowed the release of information from the 1911 Census was more restrictive.
	Details of the 1993 concession as reported in Hansard are attached for reference.
	The average man-hours for a search of the 1911 Census was 5 hours 20 minutes including travelling and administration time for supplying the information. This is higher than for a 1901 Census search as more travelling was involved (the 1911 records were located at a more remote site) and also because of a lack of searching aids such as a street index.

Child Benefit (Administration)

David Laws: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what his latest estimate is of the annual administration costs of child benefit.

Ivan Lewis: I refer the hon. Gentleman to the answer I gave to the hon. Member for Birmingham, Selly Oak (Lynne Jones) on 30 March 2006, Official Report, column 111W.

Child Trust Funds

David Laws: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what his latest estimate is of the annual administration costs of the Child Trust Fund since it was introduced.

Ivan Lewis: I refer the hon. Gentleman to the answer given to the hon. Member for Leeds, North-West (Greg Mulholland) on 25 January 2006, Official Report, column 2214W.

Clinical Outcomes (Cancer)

James Duddridge: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer 
	(1)  what the clinical outcomes were for (a) upper gastro-intestinal, (b) urological, (c) head and neck, (d) breast, (e) lung, (f) prostate, (g) stomach, (h) colon and (i) bowel cancer in each cancer network in each year since 2001;
	(2)  what the clinical outcomes were for (a) female cancers and (b) male cancers in each cancer network in each year since 2001.

John Healey: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician, who has been asked to reply.
	Letter from Karen Dunnell, dated 19 April 2006
	As National Statistician I have been asked to reply to your recent Parliamentary Questions asking (1) what the clinical outcomes were for (a) female cancers and (b) male cancers in each cancer network in each year since 2001 and (2) what the clinical outcomes were for (a) upper gastro-intestinal, (b) urological, (c) head and neck, (d) breast, (e) lung, (f) prostate, (g) stomach, (h) colon and (i) bowel cancer in each cancer network in each year since 2001. (63668 & 63670)
	Nationally comparable survival rates are available for England, Government Office Regions, and Strategic Health Authorities (but not for other areas such as cancer networks). The latest available figures are one-and five-year relative rates for patients (aged 15–99) diagnosed in 1995–97 and followed up to the end of 2002. These can be found on the National Statistics website at the address below, for the following cancer sites: bladder, colon, lung, oesophagus and stomach (for both sexes), breast and cervix (for females), and prostate (for males). http://www.statistics.gov.uk/StatBase/Product.asp?vlnk=11991&Pos=4&ColRank= 1&Rank=272
	These figures are also available on the Clinical and Health Outcomes Knowledge Base at: http://www.nchod.nhs.uk/

Contracts (Voluntary Sector)

Andrew Turner: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many contracts are let by his Department to voluntary sector organisations; how many of those are let on an annual basis; and how many of those had received finalised contracts for 2006–07 by 31 March.

John Healey: The Treasury has one contract with voluntary organisations. Campbell Robb, Director of Public Policy at the National Council for Voluntary Organisations, has been seconded to the Treasury by the NCVO to play a leading advisory role in the review, announced in the Budget, into the future role of the third sector in social and economic regeneration. Agreement in principle on the secondment for an initial six months was reached before 31 March.

Earnings (Southend, West)

David Amess: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the average earnings of (a) full-time and (b) part-time employees in Southend, West constituency were in April in each year since 1997.

John Healey: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician who has been asked to reply.
	Letter from Karen Dunnell, dated 19 April 2006
	As National Statistician, I have been asked to reply to your recent Parliamentary Question to ask what the average earnings of a) full-time and b) part-time employees in Southend West constituency were in April in each year since 1997. (64196)
	Average earnings are estimated from the Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings (ASHE), and are provided for employees on adult rates whose pay for the survey period was not affected by absence. This is the standard definition used for ASHE. The ASHE does not collect data on the self employed and people who do unpaid work.
	I attach tables showing Average Gross Weekly Earnings by parliamentary constituency for the years 1997 to 2005 for full-time and part-time employees on adult rates. These statistics are already published on the National Statistics website at: http://www.statistics.gov.uk/StatBase/Product.asp?vlnk=13101.
	The ASHE, carried out in April of each year, is the most comprehensive source of earnings information in the United Kingdom. It is a one per cent sample of all employees who are members of pay-as-you-earn (PAYE) schemes.
	
		Gross weekly pay for all employee jobs(12) by place of work -- £
		
			  Full-time Part-time 
			 Southend West Median Mean Median Mean 
		
		
			 1997 **281 *342 **105 **132 
			 1998 **285 *352 **107 **143 
			 1999 *317 *372 **126 **154 
			 2000 *306 *342 **110 **142 
			 2001 **321 *384 **136 *159 
			 2002 **356 *426 **128 **148 
			 2003 **318 *382 x **169 
			 2004 **327 *384 x **206 
			 2004(13) **326 *386 x **199 
			 2005 **341 *417 128 **169 
		
	
	(12) Employees on adult rates whose pay for the survey pay-period was not affected by absence.
	(13) Includes supplementary survey data.
	Guide to quality:
	The Coefficient of Variation (CV) indicates the quality of a figure, the smaller the CV value the higher the quality.
	The true value is likely to lie within ± twice the CV e.g. for an average of 200 with a CV of 5 per cent. we would expect the population average to be within the range 180 to 220.
	Key:
	CV }5 per cent.
	*CV >5 per cent. and }10 per cent.
	**CV >10 per cent. and }20 per cent.
	x Unreliable
	Note:
	The median replaces the mean as the headline statistic. The weighted mean is the sum of the weighted values divided by the sum of the weights. The median is the value below which 50 per cent. of employees fall. It is preferred over the mean for earnings data as it is influenced less by extreme values and because of the skewed distribution of earnings data.
	Source:
	Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings, Office for National Statistics.
	
		Gross weekly pay for all employee jobs(14) by place of residence -- £
		
			  Full-time Part-time 
			 Southend West Median Mean Median Mean 
		
		
			 1997 (15)— (15)— (15)— (15)— 
			 1998 (15)— (15)— (15)— (15)— 
			 1999 (15)— (15)— (15)— (15)— 
			 2000 (15)— (15)— (15)— (15)— 
			 2001 (15)— (15)— (15)— (15)— 
			 2002 **395 *484 **129 *149 
			 2003 **413 *519 **102 **151 
			 2004 *459 *563 x **144 
			 2004(15) *455 *549 x **143 
			 2005 *490 *577 **143 **198 
		
	
	(14) Employees on adult rates whose pay for the survey pay-period was not affected by absence.
	(15) Denotes data not collected before 2002.
	(16) Includes supplementary survey data.
	Guide to quality:
	The Coefficient of Variation (CV) indicates the quality of a figure, the smaller the CV value the higher the quality.
	The true value is likely to lie within ± twice the CV e.g. for an average of 200 with a CV of 5 per cent. we would expect the population average to be within the range 180 to 220.
	Key:
	CV }5 per cent.
	*CV >5 per cent. and }10 per cent.
	**CV >10 per cent. and }20 per cent.
	x Unreliable
	Note:
	The median replaces the mean as the headline statistic. The weighted mean is the sum of the weighted values divided by the sum of the weights. The median is the value below which 50 per cent. of employees fall. It is preferred over the mean for earnings data as it is influenced less by extreme values and because of the skewed distribution of earnings data.
	Source:
	Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings, Office for National Statistics.

Financial Advice (Mortgages)

David Drew: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will take steps to ensure that borrowers are told by (a) an estate agent and (b) a financial adviser how many lenders are on the panel from which a mortgage can be obtained.

Ivan Lewis: Estate agents and financial advisers that arrange or advise on regulated mortgage contracts are regulated by the Financial Services Authority (FSA).
	They are required by FSA rules to disclose whether they offer mortgages from a limited number of lenders. If that is the case they are required to tell consumers that a list of lenders is available on request.
	Estate agents that confine their financial services activity to introducing clients to an authorised mortgage broker or lender are exempt from FSA regulation, provided the necessary conditions are met.

Education Spending

Huw Irranca-Davies: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what percentage of the UK's gross domestic product has been spent on education in each year since 2004.

Des Browne: As set out in Public Expenditure Statistical Analyses 2005 (http://www.hm-treasury.gov.uk/media/172/47/pesa2005_complete.pdf) the percentage of the UK's gross domestic product spent on education in 2003–04 and 2004–05 (estimated outturn) is 5.3 per cent. and 5.4 per cent. respectively.
	Final outturn data for 2004–05 and estimated outturn data for 2005–06 will be published in Public Expenditure Statistical Analyses 2006 (for publication in May 2006).

Identity Fraud

Nigel Evans: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer pursuant to the answer of 27 March 2006, Official Report, column 705W, on identity fraud, what steps are taken to ensure that staff in his Department are aware of the dangers of identity fraud; and which staff are provided with this training.

John Healey: It would be inappropriate to provide details of the action taken within the Treasury to ensure that officials are made aware of the importance of safeguarding information which should remain confidential, as to do so would compromise the operational efficiency of the Department.

Income Tax

Andrew George: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what recent estimate he has made of the number of people who would cease to pay tax if the starting rate were raised to (a) £1,000, (b) £2,000, (c) £2,500 and (d) £3,000.

Ivan Lewis: The starting rate band is £2,150 in 2006–07. The number of people who would cease to pay tax if this were increased from £2,150 to £2,500 and £3,000 is 15,000 and 33,000 respectively. This is due to their married couples allowance (MCA) offsetting their decreased tax liability.
	The income tax information is based upon the 2003–04 Survey of Personal Incomes (SPI) and projected forwards in line with 2006 Budget assumptions. The figures exclude any estimate of behavioural response, which could be significant given the scale of the changes.

Income Tax

Andrew George: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estimate he has made of the potential impact on Government income of a starting point for the basic rate of income tax band of (a) £2,200, (b) £2,300, (c) £2,400, (d) £2,500, (e) £2,600, (f) £2,700, (g) £2,800, (h) £2,900, (i) £3,000, (j) £3,100, (k) £3,200, (l) £3,300, (m) £3,400, (n) £3,500 and (o) £4,000.

Ivan Lewis: The information is provided in the table.
	
		Year: 2006–07
		
			 Basic rate threshold (£) Cost (£ billion) 
		
		
			 2,200 0.2 
			 2,300 0.5 
			 2,400 0.8 
			 2,500 1.1 
			 2,600 1.4 
			 2,700 1.7 
			 2,800 2.0 
			 2,900 2.3 
			 3,000 2.6 
			 3,100 2.9 
			 3,200 3.1 
			 3,300 3.4 
			 3,400 3.7 
			 3,500 4.0 
			 4,000 5.4 
		
	
	The higher rate threshold has not been changed.
	The income tax information is based upon the 2003–04 Survey of Personal Incomes (SPI) and projected forwards in line with 2006 Budget assumptions. The figures exclude any estimate of behavioural response, which could be significant given the scale of the changes.

Income Tax

Andrew George: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what assessment he has made of (a) the extent to and (b) methods by which higher income earners (i) legally and (ii) illegally avoid paying the top rate of income tax.

Ivan Lewis: The information requested is not available.

Income Tax

Andrew George: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estimates his Department has made of income to the Inland Revenue of an increase in the upper rate of income tax from 40p in the pound to (a) 45p, (b) 50p, (c) 51p, (d) 52p, (e) 53p, (f) 54p, (g) 55p, (h) 56p, (i) 57p, (j) 58p, (k) 59p, (l) 60p, (m) 65p and (n) 70p.

Ivan Lewis: The information is provided in the table.
	
		Year: 2006–07
		
			 Higher rate of tax (per cent.)(17) Yield (£ billion) 
		
		
			 45 5.2 
			 50 10.5 
			 51 11.5 
			 52 12.5 
			 53 13.6 
			 54 14.6 
			 55 15.7 
			 56 16.7 
			 57 17.8 
			 58 18.8 
			 59 19.9 
			 60 20.9 
			 65 26.1 
			 70 31.4 
		
	
	(17) The new higher tax rate applies to earnings and savings income only. Dividends at the higher rate remain taxed at 32.5 per cent.
	The income tax information is based upon the 2003–04 Survey of Personal Incomes (SPI) and projected forwards in line with 2006 Budget assumptions. The figures exclude any estimate of behavioural response, which could be significant given the scale of the changes.

London and Continental Railways

Chris Grayling: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer 
	(1)  if he will list the meetings which have taken place between potential bidders for London and Continental Railways and officials and ministers at the Treasury;
	(2)  whether there have been recent discussions between the Treasury and (a) London and Continental Railways (LCR) and (b) potential bidders for LCR about altering LCR's debt structure;
	(3)  what representations have been made to his Department by (a) London and Continental Railways (LCR) and (b) potential bidders for LCR.

Des Browne: I refer the hon. Gentleman to the Secretary of State's Statements on the matter, 14 February 2006, Official Report, column 104WS, 1 March 2006, Official Report, column 28WS and 30 March 2006, Official Report, column 111WS.

Ministerial Responses

David Amess: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will make it his policy when placing material in the Library in response to a parliamentary question to supply a copy of the material to the hon. Member who tabled the question; and if he will make a statement.

John Healey: It is the policy of Treasury Ministers always to provide the hon. Member concerned with a copy of any documents placed in the Library of the House in response to a parliamentary question, except where the material is too unwieldy to warrant the production of an additional copy.

New Employees (Wirral, West)

Stephen Hesford: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many of the extra people in work since the 2005 budget are residents of Wirral, West.

John Healey: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician who has been asked to reply.
	Letter from Karen Dunnell, dated 19 April 2006
	As National Statistician, I have been asked to reply to your Parliamentary Question about the increase in employment, in the Wirral West Parliamentary Constituency, since the 2005 budget. (64316)
	The Office for National Statistics (ONS) compiles statistics on numbers in employment for local areas, including parliamentary constituencies, from the Annual Population Survey (APS) following International Labour Organisation definitions.
	The latest available APS data refer to the period April 2004 to March 2005, so it is not possible at present to say how many of the total extra people in work, since the 2005 budget, are residents of Wirral West. Statistics from the APS for the period April 2005 to March 2006 are expected to be published in September 2006.

Pensions

Philip Dunne: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the total annual contributions would be to the (a) NHS, (b) teachers, (c) civil service, (d) armed forces, (e) police, (f) firefighters, (g) judiciary and (h) Atomic Energy Authority pension schemes if the current market interest rate for the appropriate maturity was used as the discount rate.

Des Browne: Contribution rates to reflect the costs of participation in these schemes are calculated by scheme actuaries using assumptions which represent a stable basis for determining the accruing pension benefits over the long-term. A common set of long-term financial assumptions is used across the unfunded public service schemes. As is common practice these financial assumptions differ from those used to prepare annual accounts and do not necessarily relate to particular market interest rates.

Supervisory and Regulatory Staff

Christopher Huhne: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many staff were employed in institutions with statutory duties for the (a) supervision and (b) regulation of (i) banks, (ii) insurance companies, (iii) mortgage lenders and (iv) other financial institutions in each year since 1996, broken down by supervisory and regulatory institution and including his Department; and what the cost of such institutions was in each year.

Ivan Lewis: The following table shows the number of staff employed in institutions with statutory duties for the supervision/regulation of banks, insurance companies, mortgage lenders and other financial institutions since 1996.
	
		
			  Institutions 
			  Self-regulating   
			  organisations  PIAIMROSFA Securities and Investments Board(18) Building Societies Commission Friendly Societies Commission Central Office of the Registry of Friendly Societies Financial Services Authority 
		
		
			 1996–97 n/a n/a n/a n/a (19)168 — 
			 1997–98 n/a n/a n/a n/a (19)162 185 
			 1998–99 — — — — (19)112 (20)1,768 
			 1999–2000 — — — — — — — 4, 52,548 
			 2000–01 — — — — — — — (23)2,156 
			 2001–02 — — — — — — — 7, 82,196 
			 2002–03 — — — — — — — (24)2,288 
			 2003–04 — — — — — — — (24)2,312 
			 2004–05 — — — — — — — (24)2,467 
			 2005–06 — — — — — — — (24)2,826 
		
	
	n/a=Not available.
	(18) Securities and Investments Board—a private limited company formerly reporting to the Chancellor of the Exchequer with responsibility for the regulation of the UK investment market in accordance with the Financial Services Act 1986, was replaced by the Financial Services Authority (FSA) in October 1997.
	(19) Government Expenditure Plans 2000–01 to 2001–02 CM 4615.
	(20) FSA Annual Report 1998–99.
	(21) FSA Annual Report 1999–2000.
	(22) In 1998, 1,464 staff transferred from the three SROs, the Bank of England, and FSA(SIB). A further 142 transferred on 1 January 1999 from the Insurance Directorate of HM Treasury, the Registry of Friendly Societies/Friendly Societies Commission/Building Societies Commission and the Treasury Solicitors.
	(23) From the FSA's annual report 2000–01 and was the average number of staff employed by or contracted to work for the FSA.
	(24) Full-time equivalent at 31 March.
	(25) Until 1 December 2001 ('N2'), the date at which the FSA assumed its responsibilities under FSMA, the FSA carried out and provided staff to support, under contract, the supervision and enforcement functions of a number of financial services regulators, including the self-regulating organisations (SROs); SFA, PIA, and IMRO. At N2, all of the functions of these financial regulators were transferred to the FSA when it became the single statutory regulator of financial services in the UK.

Tax Credits (Overpayments)

Andrew Turner: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the (a) level of overpayments and (b) cost to the Exchequer was of (i) interest foregone on overpayments and (ii) written-off overpayments of child tax credit in each of the last three years for which information is available; and what his most recent estimate is of the cost of administration of (A) the child tax credit system and (B) overpayments.

Dawn Primarolo: In answer to (a) for the level of overpayments, I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to the hon. Member for Mid-Sussex (Mr. Soames) on 15 February 2006, Official Report, column 2164W.
	In answer to (b) (i) for the interest foregone on overpayments, the information is not available.
	For answer to (b) (ii) for the level of overpayments written off, I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to the hon. Member for Yeovil (Mr. Laws) on 18 April 2006 (63043).
	For answer to (A) for the most recent estimate of the cost of the administration of the tax credit system, I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to the hon. Member for Vale of York (Miss McIntosh) on 17 October 2005, Official Report, column 723W.
	For answer to (B) for the most recent estimate of the cost of the administration of overpayments, the information is not available.

World Bank

Lynne Jones: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will make a statement on his proposal for a $20 billion target at the World Bank for investment into alternative sources of energy, energy efficiency and adaptation to climate change in developing countries; and what sources of finance he proposes to make available from the UK.

John Healey: Climate change and access to energy are global problems that need a global response. Maximising energy efficiency (in both the production and use of energy) and diversification of energy sources and technologies has both environmental and developmental benefits. Both of these are crucial for developing countries, which are more vulnerable to rising oil prices and the adverse impacts of climate change.
	There is an estimated annual $60 billion shortfall in energy investment in developing countries. This is why at Gleneagles the G8 asked the World Bank and other Multilateral Development Banks to develop a framework to increase investment in cleaner and more efficient energy in developing countries and to address the need for more investment to support adaptation to climate change. The World Bank has made good progress on this work and will present proposals for its component of the framework to the Development Committee at the spring meetings in Washington D.C. this month. The Government believes this framework presents a good opportunity to leverage more public and private investment in clean energy and encourage more effective use of existing financing instruments.
	At the spring meetings the Chancellor of the Exchequer and the Secretary of State for International Development will propose an initial annual target of $20 billion for the investment framework. We expect this to include public and private sector investment, non-concessional lending from the Multilateral Development Banks, and grant and concessional financing from relevant mechanisms. Concessional financing from donors, including the UK, will play an important role in the framework. We expect the World Bank to set out financing required from all sources in order to leverage $20 billion in total investment.

World Cup (Complimentary Tickets)

Greg Hands: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many complimentary tickets his Department has received for games taking place at the FIFA World Cup 2006 in Germany.

John Healey: None.

CONSTITUTIONAL AFFAIRS

Correspondence

Sarah Teather: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs when she will reply to the letters dated (a) 27 October 2005, (b) 30 January 2006 and (c) 9 February 2006 from the hon. Member for Brent, East on access to legal help for Mrs. French-Walsh.

Harriet Harman: The Under-Secretary of State for Constitutional Affairs, my hon. Friend the Member for Lewisham, East (Bridget Prentice), responded to the hon. Member's letters of 30 January and 9 February on 7 March. A copy has been forwarded to her. My Department has no record of receiving her letter of 27 October.

Departmental Staff

Philip Hammond: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs how many and what proportion of (a) staff and (b) new staff employed in (i) her Department and (ii) each of the agencies for which she has responsibility were registered as disabled in each of the last three years for which data is available.

Harriet Harman: The Cabinet Office collects and publishes annually statistical information on the Civil Service by Department. These include data on the number of staff in departments who have declared a disability.
	Declaration of a disability is voluntary.
	The latest available information at April 2004 is available in the Library and on the Civil Service website and the following addresses: http://www.civilservice.gov.uk/management/statistics/publications/xls/disability_ apr04_4nov04.xls for data relating to 1 April 2004, and http://www.civilservice.gov.uk/management/statistics/archive/index.asp for previous reporting periods.

Electoral Registration (West Lancashire)

Rosie Cooper: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs what percentage of young people in West Lancashire were not on the electoral register in (a) 1997, (b) 2001 and (c) 2005; and what steps her Department is taking to increase the proportion registered.

Bridget Prentice: Other than for those due to turn 18 before the next statutory annual publication of the register, electoral registers in the UK do not identify the age of electors and no record is kept of categories of electors upon that basis. The Electoral Administration Bill currently before Parliament includes a new duty on electoral registration officers to take all necessary steps to ensure comprehensive registers. The Department for Constitutional Affairs (DCA) is actively working with committed organisations to promote awareness of voter registration at the national and local levels, in particular it has delivered a pan-London campaign ("1824 Collective") directed at London's 'urban youth'. Lessons learnt from these initiatives will be used to inform the DCA's ongoing programme of work in democratic engagement (which includes raising voter registration levels). At present, DCA is working with the Department for Education and Skills, student unions, universities and colleges and local authorities to encourage eligible student populations to register to vote. It is hoped that the introduction of 'citizenship' into the school curriculum will prove to be a major step in raising awareness of young people in the democratic process and can be expected to develop further over time.

FIFA World Cup

Greg Hands: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs how many complimentary tickets her Department has received for games taking place at the FIFA World Cup 2006 in Germany.

Bridget Prentice: The Department for Constitutional Affairs has not received any complimentary tickets for World Cup matches taking place in Germany this summer.

Legal Aid

Paul Rowen: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs what discussions she has had with the Legal Services Commission on recovering payments from legal aid solicitors.

Harriet Harman: It is the duty of the Legal Services Commission (LSC) to recover payments owed to it by solicitors when it is appropriate to do so, and forms part of its normal operational function.

Statutory Measures (EU)

Douglas Carswell: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs how many and what percentage of statutory measures passed between (a) 1998 and 2004 and (b) 1 May 2004 and 1 May 2006 had their origin in (i) EU regulations, (ii) EU directives and (iii) other EU legislation.

Harriet Harman: This information could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

TRANSPORT

Buses

Stephen Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many accidents involving buses were recorded in England in each year since 1997, broken down by region.

Stephen Ladyman: The number of personal injury road accidents, involving at least one bus 1 between 1997 and 2004 (the latest year for which data is available) is given in the table.
	
		Number of personal injury accidents involving at least one bus(26), by English Government Office regions, 1997–2004
		
			  Year of Accident 
			 Government Office Regions 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 
		
		
			 North East 728 677 687 580 584 579 614 602 
			 North West/Merseyside 1,454 1,549 1,503 1,437 1,478 1,301 1,210 1,184 
			 Yorkshire/Humberside 1,327 1,340 1,402 1,320 1,197 1,142 1,068 1,015 
			 East Midlands 528 551 586 551 571 499 535 473 
			 West Midlands 789 807 867 865 860 811 844 719 
			 Eastern 552 596 635 576 494 497 495 486 
			 South East 966 988 999 1028 1006 955 914 985 
			 London 2,778 2,954 3,083 3,177 3,146 2,864 3,097 2,939 
			 South West 511 572 593 579 619 581 603 582 
			 England 9,633 10,034 10,355 10,113 9,955 9,229 9,380 8,985 
		
	
	(26) Buses including coaches

Buses

Jeremy Browne: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many bus services operated in Taunton constituency for each year since 1997.

Stephen Ladyman: The information is available only at disproportionate costs.

Car Sharing

Stewart Jackson: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what (a) financial and (b) other measures he is taking to promote car sharing; and if he will make a statement.

Stephen Ladyman: The Government encourages local authorities to promote car sharing through a range of initiatives, including:
	Spending over £100 million to 2008 on the Travelling to School Initiative;
	Spending £10 million over five years on the Sustainable Travel Towns Initiative;
	Researching and disseminating publications such as "Making car sharing and car clubs work" and "Making Smarter Choices Work"; and
	Encouraging the inclusion of car sharing and car club schemes in the Local Transport Plans that local authorities submitted on 31 March this year.
	It is not possible however to disaggregate from these projects the amount spent specifically on car sharing.
	Through the Highways Agency, the Government are also taking direct measures to encourage and facilitate car sharing. This includes implementing workplace travel plans on the strategic road network and piloting the use of dedicated car share lanes.

Climate Change

Peter Law: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what input his Department had into the preparation of Cm 6764, "Climate Change: The UK Programme 2006" in respect of (a) aircraft passenger travel, (b) aircraft freight transport, (c) road passenger transport and (d) road freight transport.

Stephen Ladyman: The Department for Transport was fully involved with all stages of the preparation of "Climate Change: The UK Programme 2006". As part of this, the Department was an active member of the Climate Change Project Board, the Sustainable Energy Policy Network and the Interdepartmental Analysts Group.
	As a result of the transport measures in this and the previous Climate Change Programme, carbon emissions will be reduced by 6.8 million tonnes, 13 per cent. lower than they would have been had we not acted at all.

Council Workers Strike

Stephen Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport whether he has estimated the cost to the transport industry of the council workers strike of 28 March 2006 as a consequence of closures and reduced capacity at bridges and tunnels.

Stephen Ladyman: The Department has not undertaken any analysis of these specific costs.

EU Regulations

Stephen Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what plans his Department has made to inform UK lorry drivers of their obligation to work on Co-ordinated Universal Time when the new EU digital tachograph regulations come into force.

Stephen Ladyman: Universal Time Co-Ordinated (UTC) is the same as Greenwich Mean Time. All records made by a digital tachograph vehicle unit will be made against UTC, irrespective of the vehicle's country of origin or what country the vehicle is in. Drivers using vehicles equipped with digital tachographs need to understand that vehicle units record in UTC and the implications of this should be explained as part of the overall package of guidance and training available to industry from the tachograph manufacturers and other organisations. Vehicle units display both local time and UTC; guidance on how to set the vehicle unit display to local time is contained within the user handbooks provided by tachograph manufacturers and should normally be part of any training package aimed at drivers.
	Both the Vehicle and Operator Services Agency (VOSA) and the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency have arranged seminars to help industry better understand the implications of digital tachographs, including UTC. In addition, VOSA's digital tachograph website—www.digitaltachograph.gov.uk—contains general information about digital tachographs.

Fuel Duty Exemption

Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what estimate he has made of the cost of extending the existing fuel duty exemption for buses to coaches.

Stephen Ladyman: There is no fuel duty exemption for buses. This Department however does pay Bus Service Operators Grant to operators of local bus services and many community transport services in respect of the fuel used in providing those services. This recognises the particular role of such services in providing a local public transport network and contributing to the Government's objectives of reducing congestion, improving the environment and increasing social inclusion.
	We have made no estimate of the cost of extending this grant to coaches, though it would clearly be substantial.

Government Car Service

Stephen Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport pursuant to the answer to the hon. Member for Lewes of 13 March 2006, Official Report, column 1886W, on the Government Car Service, what make and model of car has been made available to each Government Minister; how many hours a day a chauffeur is available to them; what the monthly cost is of this provision; and how much is accounted for by (a) running costs of the vehicle, (b) costs of the chauffeur and (c) all other costs.

Stephen Ladyman: The Prime Minister's guidance "Travel by Ministers" sets out what official cars are available for Ministers. The total contracted cost of providing ministerial cars in 2005–06 was £5,683,100. A breakdown of the figures in the format requested is not readily available and could be obtained only at a disproportionate cost. However, the contracted costs for each Ministerial department for the year were:
	
		2005–06
		
			 Department Number of cars Annual contracted value (£) 
		
		
			 Cabinet Office(27) 7 446,200 
			 ODPM 6 390,900 
			 DCMS 4 265,500 
			 DfES 7 436,600 
			 DFID 2 124,400 
			 DTI 6 377,800 
			 FCO 4 340,700 
			 Department of Health 6 365,700 
			 HM Treasury 5 330,600 
			 Home Office 7 461,600 
			 DCA 4 268,200 
			 Law Officers 2 127,400 
			 MOD 1 163,800 
			 Northern Ireland Office 5 433,000 
			 Privy Council Office 3 140,200 
			 Scotland Office2, 3 1 58,900 
			 Wales Office(28) 1 72,900 
			 Defra 5 322,800 
			 DfT 4 259,800 
			 DWP 6 396,200 
			 Total 86 5,683,100 
		
	
	(27) Cabinet Office figures include cars for the Prime Minister's Office, the Leader of the House of Lords, the Chief Whip in the House of Commons and the Minister without Portfolio.
	(28) The right hon. Alistair Darling MP is both Secretary of State for Transport and Secretary of State for Scotland. All his GCS costs are met by the Department for Transport. The right hon. Peter Hain MP is both Secretary of State for Northern Ireland and Secretary of State for Wales. All his GCS costs are met by the Northern Ireland Office.
	(29) The GCS car and driver provided to the Scotland Office is shared by the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, David Cairns MP and the Advocate-General.

Heathrow

Colin Challen: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what provision he has made for a public consultation on the revised assumptions to be used in the Stage Two air quality modelling assessments for Heathrow.

Derek Twigg: The air quality technical panel's review of airport-related emissions at Heathrow has been completed and we expect to publish a full report shortly. This will comment on emissions sources and recommend how these can best be represented and modelled in future years. The work has been independently peer reviewed and its findings will inform the next stage of assessment and subsequent consultation.

Heathrow

Colin Challen: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how much has been allocated to his Department's project for the Sustainable Development of Heathrow, including associated staffing costs and the use of consultants.

Derek Twigg: Provision of around £1 million has been made to cover work to date, mainly on the technical review of air quality, noise assessment and surface access modelling. This takes no account of Departmental staffing costs, which are not separately identified. Expenditure in the coming year could be of a similar order.

High Occupancy Vehicle Lanes

Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what research his Department has undertaken into the effectiveness of existing high occupancy vehicle lanes in (a) the UK and (b) other developed countries; and if he will publish it.

Stephen Ladyman: In November 2004, the Highways Agency commissioned consultants KBR to produce a report entitled 'High Occupancy Vehicle Lanes Feasibility Study' looking at potential sites for car sharing lanes on the motorway network. This report is available on the agency's website www.highways.gov.uk .

Highways Agency

Stephen Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many plants and shrubs have been planted by the Highways Agency in each year since 1997; and at what cost.

Stephen Ladyman: The numbers of trees and shrubs planted by the Highways Agency in each planting season (November-March) from 1997 to 2005 and their cost are:
	
		
			  Number (million) Cost (£ million) 
		
		
			 1997–98 1.2 12.6 
			 1998–99 0.9 9.9 
			 1999–2000 1.1 12.1 
			 2000–01 1.0 11.2 
			 2001–02 0.9 10.3 
			 2002–03 1.0 11.5 
			 2003–04 0.95 10.9 
			 2004–05 1.0 11.5 
		
	
	Figures for 2005–06 are not yet available.

Infrastructure

Tobias Ellwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what plans costing over £5 million there have been for improving rail infrastructure in the East Dorset area, including Bournemouth, over the last four years.

Derek Twigg: Network Rail has responsibility for the maintenance and improvement of railway infrastructure, working within the resources available to them, as determined by the Office of Rail Regulation. The Department does not have the detailed records of expenditure over individual sections of route.

Infrastructure

Tobias Ellwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what plans costing over £5 million there are for improving road infrastructure in East Dorset, including the Bournemouth area, over the next four years.

Stephen Ladyman: The Poole Bridge Regeneration Initiative was provisionally approved for funding through the Local Transport Programme in 2001 and is currently being progressed by Poole borough council through the necessary statutory procedures.
	There are no other major road infrastructure schemes costing over £5 million currently approved by the Department in East Dorset, including the Bournemouth area.

London and Continental Railways

Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will list the Ministers and officials involved in discussions on the possible takeover of London and Continental Railways between the date that Adrian Montague's first approach was made to his Department and the first public statement by the Department about the possible takeover.

Derek Twigg: Various Ministers and Officials have regular discussions on such matters relating to the Channel Tunnel Rail Link as may be relevant at the time.

Penalty Fares

Greg Knight: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what plans he has to increase penalty fares on public transport.

Derek Twigg: The details of penalty fare regimes vary across modes and between different operators. For those schemes where the penalty fare is set centrally by Government, the minimum fine was raised from £10 to £20 in 2005. We keep penalty fare levels under review and continue to assist operators where necessary in drawing up their revenue protection strategies.

Pensioner Travel

Alan Beith: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport whether the arrangement for free bus travel for pensioners from 2008 will include arrangements for pensioners in border areas to travel into Scotland.

Stephen Ladyman: The Government will be looking at the detailed arrangements closely, and discuss with devolved Administrations this issue ahead of the 2008 introduction date.

Ports

Greg Knight: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will make a statement on proposals for a new container port in the United Kingdom; and what estimate he has made of the likely cost.

Stephen Ladyman: Earlier this year the Department approved container terminal developments at Bathside Bay, Harwich, and at Felixstowe. We are aware of three further proposals for significant container port expansion which are at differing stages of the decision-making process. The Under-Secretary of State for Transport my hon. Friend the Member for Halton (Derek Twigg) also indicated that he was minded to approve the London Gateway proposal; an application for expansion at the Seaforth Terminal on the Mersey will be considered at a public inquiry later this month, and the Department has been given formal notice of an intended application by PD Teesport for their Northern Gateway project.
	Port expansion is funded exclusively from private sector sources and we have made no estimate of the costs.

Priority Bus Lanes

Alistair Carmichael: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many miles of priority bus lanes have been created in each year since 1997 (a) in total and (b) broken down by local authority area.

Stephen Ladyman: A table showing the mileages of priority bus lanes created in England in each year since the financial year 2001–02 has been placed in the House Library. Estimates are not available for years prior to 2001–02.

Public Transport

Ashok Kumar: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport 
	(1)  what measures the Department takes to ensure that (a) bus companies and (b) train companies provide important public transport services on routes which are not financially profitable;
	(2)  what measures the Department takes to provide rural areas with affordable public transport when the services provided by local companies are limited.

Stephen Ladyman: There are a number of mechanisms to ensure that bus and train services are provided on routes that are not financially profitable.
	Subsidy of non-commercial bus services is provided primarily through local authorities who have the best understanding of local travel needs and the level of bus services required.
	However, since 1998 nearly £450 million has been allocated by this Department to local authorities specifically for the support of rural bus services. The main element of this is Rural Bus Subsidy Grant which will provide £54.3 million in 2006–07 and which supports some 2000 services.
	Last year we announced "Kickstart" support, totalling £20 million, for 43 projects involving new and improved bus services which will become viable through growth in passenger numbers after an initial period of pump-priming from Government funds. 11 of these schemes will serve areas which are mainly rural in character.
	Demand-responsive, flexibly routed and community transport services have a particularly significant role to play in rural areas. We have encouraged their development in particular by Rural Bus Challenge competitions held from 1998 to 2003, which have supported some 300 rural transport projects. In addition, many rural community transport services have since 2002 been eligible to receive Bus Service Operators Grant and regulations were introduced in 2004 to enable flexibly routed bus services to be registered with the Traffic Commissioner.
	We are expecting all local transport authorities to include accessibility strategies in their next Local Transport Plans. Our guidance to authorities makes clear that the strategies should take account of the particular needs of rural communities.
	From 1 April this year people aged 60 and over and disabled people in rural and urban areas alike are entitled to free off-peak bus travel within their local authority boundary.
	For rail services these are either directly supported by the Department or through Passenger Transport Executives, Transport for London and the Scottish Executive. Some £5.8 billion of Government funds will be spent on the railway in 2006–07.
	The Government's Community Rail Development Strategy seeks to improve the value of local and rural rail services to the taxpayer and the communities they serve. This pragmatic approach includes greater flexibility in the setting of fares and timetables to ensure that the resources available for running the service are used as effectively as possible. Part of the strategy involves forging closer links between the community and the railway through community rail partnerships (or rail development companies) that bring together local stakeholders and the railway to jointly develop services.

Rail Security

Greg Knight: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what assessment he has made of the (a) cost and (b) practicality of implementation of extending security screening arrangements to mainline railway stations.

Derek Twigg: A trial of a millimetre wave body scanner took place at Paddington station in January and February. This is the first in a series of trials of different screening technologies and techniques on the national railway and London Underground networks that the Secretary of State announced on 2 November 2005.
	The objective of the trials is to assess the capabilities of existing screening technologies and procedures in railway environments where conditions are very different from those in an airport terminal building.
	An assessment of the costs and practicalities of the screening technology and procedures trialled at Paddington is under way, and will also be carried out in respect of the forthcoming trials. We will announce our findings once all the trials have been completed later this year.

Railways

Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what plans he has to open new commuter services on railway lines that are solely used for freight.

Derek Twigg: There are no committed schemes to introduce passenger services on any existing freight-only railways at present.

Railways

Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many stations have been (a) opened and (b) closed on the rail network in each year since 1997; and what the reason was in each case.

Derek Twigg: 39 stations have been opened since 1997 as follows:
	
		
			  Number of stations opened 
		
		
			 2005 8 
			 2004 0 
			 2003 2 
			 2002 3 
			 2001 1 
			 2000 5 
			 1999 5 
			 1998 10 
			 1997 5 
			 Total 39 
		
	
	Four stations have been closed since 1997 and 13 stations have been replaced by either: light rail, tram, or a station in a new location.
	The four stations which have been closed are:
	Etruria in 2005 because the number of passengers using it was low and its retention did not represent good value for money.
	Sinfin North and Sinfin Central in 1998 because passenger demand was low and their retention did not represent good value for money.
	Pendleton station in 1998, which had not been in use since 1994 following severe damage by an arson attack. Passenger demand had been low prior to the damage, and repair did not represent good value for money.

Roads

John Spellar: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what estimate he has made of the percentage of total capacity on the motorways that is used.

Stephen Ladyman: No estimates of the total capacity of the motorway network have been made nor what percentage of this capacity is currently used. On most motorways, the traffic demand reaches capacity for a relatively small proportion of the day, usually during the morning or evening peak periods, or both.

Roads

James Arbuthnot: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what assessment he has made of the cost to the (a) environment and (b) economy of (i) North East Hampshire Constituency and (ii) South East England of not progressing the A3 Hindhead Improvement Scheme as soon as possible.

Stephen Ladyman: Under our appraisal criteria all major transport schemes are assessed for their impact on the environment and the economy. In the case of the A3 Hindhead scheme no separate assessment is available of the impact of the scheme specifically on the North East Hampshire Constituency nor on the South East of England.

Roads

Stephen Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how much money the Government granted each local authority for the maintenance of local roads in each year since 1997.

Stephen Ladyman: Capital maintenance funding is allocated to local highways authorities for investment in their highway network, including its structures and street lighting. Details for the funding allocated for capital highway maintenance to all English local authorities outside London since 1997 have been placed in the House Library. It is for each local authority to determine how their allocations are spent, in line with their priorities.
	The Revenue Support Grant (RSG) from the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister provides revenue funding for highway maintenance. However, RSG is unhypothecated and may be applied by local authorities to any services.
	Funding for local authority maintenance on local roads in London is a matter for the Mayor.

Roads

Stephen Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how much has been awarded in compensation to people who have suffered blight from road noise in each year since 1997.

Stephen Ladyman: The Highways Agency does not break down financial information on claims for compensation specifically for noise intrusion, resulting from the use of new or improved trunk roads.
	The following amounts have been awarded by the Highways Agency under part I of the Land Compensation Act 1973 as compensation for the reduction in value of property caused by physical factors (including noise). These gross figures include interest on the compensation and agents' fees:
	
		
			  £ million 
		
		
			 1997–98 22.09 
			 1998–99 15.23 
			 1999–2000 26.54 
			 2000–01 31.47 
			 2001–02 29.43 
			 2002–03 25.59 
			 2003–04 49.96 
			 2004–05 29.22 
			 2005–06 48.57 
		
	
	Local highway authorities follow the same statutory process under part I of the Land Compensation Act 1973 for the payment of noise compensation following the construction or alteration of non-trunk roads. Compensation is funded from local authority revenue and is not reflected in figures given to this question.

Roads

Stephen Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what his projections are for traffic growth on (a) motorways, (b) trunk roads and (c) detrunked roads for the next (i) five, (ii) 10, (iii) 20 and (iv) 50 years.

Stephen Ladyman: The Department publishes projections for 25 years, using a base year of 2000 to forecast traffic growth up to 2025. The latest projections were published in 2005, consistent with the Future of Transport White Paper, projecting a 33–40 per cent. growth in traffic from 2000 to 2010, for all vehicle types on Inter-Urban Highways Agency roads in England and a 23–29 per cent. growth for the same period for all road types for England. For the period 2000 to 2015, growth is 40–51 per cent. for Inter-Urban roads and 29–38 per cent. for all roads. The projections for 2000 to 2025 are 51–69 per cent. and 38–53 per cent. respectively.
	The projections currently do not differentiate between motorways, trunk roads and detrunked roads. Traditionally, motorway traffic growth has been higher than other trunk roads, suggesting motorway traffic growth would be at the upper end of the projection ranges. More detail on the projections can be found in the 'Future of Transport: Modelling and Analysis' available on the Department's website:
	http://www.dft.gov.uk/stellent/groups/dft_about/documents/downloadable/dft_about_036814.pdf.

Road Rage

Stephen Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport 
	(1)  whether he has made an assessment of the impact of road rage on drivers;
	(2)  what steps his Department (a) has taken and (b) plans to take to help combat and prevent road rage.

Stephen Ladyman: The term "road rage" is used to cover a wide range of aggressive behaviour. Unless a serious incident takes place the police do not become involved. It is not therefore practicable to assess the impact on drivers.
	Rule 125 of the Highway Code gives guidance on being careful of and considerate towards other road users.
	Those who drive aggressively may be prosecuted for offences such as careless and inconsiderate driving (section 3 of the Road Traffic Act 1988, as amended by the Road Traffic Act 1991). Conviction may result in disqualification, a fine of up to £2,500 and an endorsement of 3–9 penalty points. Courts also have the discretion to require offenders to retake the driving test, including the theory test.

Seat Belts

David Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport pursuant to the answer of 27 March 2006, Official Report, column 632W on seat belts, if he will list those cars sold in the United Kingdom which are fitted with a seat belt reminder; and if he will make a statement.

Stephen Ladyman: The Department does not collect this information.

Seat Belts

David Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what estimate his Department has made of the number of (a) males and (b) females who do not regularly wear a seat belt; and if he will make a statement.

Stephen Ladyman: I refer the hon. Member to my answer of 16 January 2006, Official Report, column 942W. The observational survey report mentioned in that gives seat belt wearing rates by gender at Table 3.

SPECS Cameras

Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many SPECS cameras are in place; and how many orders have been placed by (a) the Highways Agency and (b) Safety Camera Partnerships for additional cameras to be delivered in the next 12 months.

Stephen Ladyman: There are currently 16 SPECS camera systems operating at core sites within the National Safety Camera Programmes for England and Wales and Scotland. There are currently no additional sites planned in the next 12 months.
	Safety Camera Partnerships are also allowed to install SPECS systems to enforce temporary reduced speed limits during road works. We do not hold records of these installations centrally.

Station Closures (Newcastle to Carlisle)

Stephen Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many stations on the Newcastle to Carlisle railway are to be closed; for what reason a decision was taken to close Wetheral station; what economic and social case was made for closing (a) Wetheral and (b) Brampton stations; and what measures are being considered to avoid congestion on the railway network around Carlisle.

Derek Twigg: No stations will close on the Newcastle to Carlisle line. Wetheral and Brampton stations will remain open. Network Rail and train operators are considering measures to relieve congestion on rail routes around Carlisle, reflecting in particular the recent growth in freight traffic.

Strategic Road Network

Stephen Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many tunnels (a) under and (b) over the strategic road network have been built for the use of (i) animals and (ii) pedestrians, cyclists and horse riders in each year since 1997; and at what total cost in each case.

Stephen Ladyman: The Highways Agency has constructed a total of 92 over-bridges and 47 under-bridges or subways since 1997 at an overall cost of just over £122 million. The number and the costs of each type of crossing are given in the following tables.
	
		
			 Bridge type 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 Total 
		
		
			 Bridleway Underbridge 0 1 5 0 0 2 0 1 0 0 9 
			 Bridleway Overbridge 1 3 3 0 1 2 0 4 0 2 16 
			 Footbridge Overbridge 6 13 12 7 4 5 14 4 10 1 76 
			 Pedestrian Subway 1 3 6 1 2 3 13 1 0 3 33 
			 Underpass 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 1 1 1 5 
			 Grand total 9 20 27 8 7 12 27 11 11 7 139 
		
	
	
		£ million
		
			 Bridge type 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 Grand total 
		
		
			 Bridleway Overbridge 0.482 3.822 2.659 0 1.104 2.287 0 6.146 0 1.698 18.198 
			 Bridleway Underbridge 0 0.619 6.735 0 0 3.824 0 1.269 0 0 12.447 
			 Footbridge Overbridge 7.298 11.962 7.466 4.001 2.470 3.805 9.409 5.736 6.520 2.249 60.916 
			 Pedestrian Subway 0.047 1.794 1.256 0.152 0.398 0.651 5.857 0.384 0 1.405 11.944 
			 Underpass 11.067 0 4.759 0 0 0 0 0.484 0.939 1.332 18.581 
			 Grand Total 18.894 18.197 22.875 4.153 3.972 10.567 15.266 14.019 7.459 6.684 122.086 
		
	
	Structures that are below 900 mm in diameter such as those aimed at supporting bio-diversity are not separately recorded and are therefore not included in the above tables. Such smaller structures are normally delivered as part of much larger schemes.

Traffic Lights

David Heath: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what estimate he has made of the total energy consumption per hour of traffic lights in (a) London and (b) England.

Stephen Ladyman: The Department for Transport does not collect data on numbers of traffic signals (traffic lights) and so has no accurate figures of the overall energy consumption.
	Transport for London is responsible for all the traffic signals in London and estimates the energy consumption to be 3 MW/h.
	The Department has previously estimated the number and energy consumption of traffic signals in UK but has not produced a figure for England alone. The likely power consumption was estimated to be of the order 15.8 and 21.5 MW/h (in 2000). There were many assumptions made in producing these estimates and they should be regarded as indicative figures only.

Train Operating Companies (Pension Fund Deficits)

Mike Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport which train operating companies have pension fund deficits; what the deficit is in each case; and what recent discussions he has held on the matter with (a) train operating companies and (b) others.

Derek Twigg: The results of the 31 December 2004 valuation of the Railways Pension Scheme (RPS) have revealed past service deficits for 29 of the 32 train operating company sections of the RPS have deficits, the other three sections are in surplus. Details of the deficit amounts and the funding level for each of these sections is shown in the following table:
	
		
			  Train operating company section of the RPS Past service deficit (£ million) Past service funding (percentage) 
		
		
			 1 Anglia Railways 3,160 92.3 
			 2 Arriva Trains Wales 3,732 84.9 
			 3 Arriva Trains Wales (ex-Central Trains) 311 92.3 
			 4 Arriva Trains Wales (ex-Great Western  Trains) 253 94.5 
			 5 Arriva Trains Wales (ex-North Western  Trains) 710 105.1 
			 6 Arriva Trains Wales (ex-Wales & West) 2,576 93.9 
			 7 C2c Rail 1 ,407 96.3 
			 8 Central Trains 11,371 92.3 
			 9 Cross Country Trains 12,624 87.2 
			 10 First Great Western Link 5,269 91.3 
			 11 Gatwick Express 824 96.1 
			 12 Great Eastern Railway 9,778 90.1 
			 13 Great North Eastern Railway 19,578 89.8 
			 14 Great Western Trains Company Ltd. 18,745 90 
			 15 Island Line Ltd. 14 100.7 
			 16 London Eastern Railway (West Anglia) 1,969 94.1 
			 17 Merseyrail 5,905 90.4 
			 18 Midland Mainline 6,467 89.8 
			 19 Northern—ex North East 22,156 86.7 
			 20 Northern—ex North West 6,334 95.3 
			 21 ScotRail Railways 1,471 100.7 
			 22 Silverlink Train Services Ltd. 7,856 89.4 
			 23 South Eastern Trains 4,244 98.2 
			 24 South West Trains Ltd. 44,147 85.8 
			 25 Southern 12,530 93.3 
			 26 Thameslink Rail 4,630 89.8 
			 27 The Chiltern Railway Company Ltd. 4,672 87.1 
			 28 TransPennine Express (former Arriva  Trains Northern) 368 98.2 
			 29 TransPennine Express (former North  Western Trains) 549 94.5 
			 30 Wales & West Passenger Trains Ltd. 10,023 84.5 
			 31 West Anglia Great Northern Railway 7,925 90.8 
			 32 West Coast Trains Ltd. 9,876 95.1 
		
	
	It is for the employers (in consultation with their employees) to agree revised contribution rates with the trustees of the RPS in the light of the recent valuation. Ministers meet regularly with train operating companies and other rail industry representatives. A range of issues are discussed.

Train Timetable (West Country)

Anthony Steen: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what criteria the Department used in deciding to specify in the Greater Western Franchise that the first train from London to Totnes should not arrive before midday on weekday services.

Derek Twigg: holding answer 21 March 2006
	The specification for the Greater Western franchise was set to achieve value for money for the taxpayer and the travelling public and provide the best service for the greatest number of passengers across the franchise.

Train Timetable (West Country)

Anthony Steen: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what criteria the Department used in deciding to specify in the Greater Western Franchise that trains between London and the West Country must call at Reading, with particular reference to (a) the Golden Hind and (b) the Cornish Riviera Express.

Derek Twigg: holding answer 21 March 2006
	Reading is a significant rail interchange, and calls there for London to West of England trains enhance their value for money. The specification for the Great Western franchise aims to provide the best service for the greatest number of passengers across the franchise.

Transport Projects

David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what scoring of projects has been undertaken by the Government Office of the South West in relation to (a) the building of the new Gloucester Parkway Station, (b) the improvements to the A417 between Brockworth and Cowley and (c) re-doubling the track between Kemble and Swindon.

Derek Twigg: The Department requires all proposed major schemes to undergo rigorous scrutiny before funding can be agreed.
	The Department has an appraisal system that all major schemes need to complete before funding can be allocated. Government Office for the South West provides advice throughout the process.
	The latest position on the schemes specified are as follows:
	(a) The Gloucester Parkway Station scheme was submitted by Gloucestershire county council in July 2005. The Department is currently assessing the scheme and an announcement is expected later this year.
	(b) This is a Highways Agency scheme that was included in the regional funding allocation advice to Ministers in January 2006.
	(c) Network Rail is responsible for track improvements between Kemble and Swindon.

Transport Subsidies

Graham Stuart: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how much has been spent on subsidies for (a) rail, (b) air and (c) bus travel in England in each of the last five years; and if he will make a statement.

Derek Twigg: I refer the hon. Member to the reply given by the then Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State my hon. Friend the Member for Regent's Park and Kensington, North (Ms Buck), on 12 December 2005, Official Report, columns 1621–22W.

Transport Subsidies

John Spellar: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport pursuant to his answer of 13 March 2006, Official Report, column 1891W, on West Midlands Passenger Transport Authority, how much of that bus subsidy is from his Department.

Stephen Ladyman: Between 1998–99 and 2004–05 the West Midlands Passenger Transport Authority was allocated by the Department a total of £3.9 million in the form of Rural Bus Subsidy Grant and awards under the Urban and Rural Bus Challenge competitions.

Transport Subsidies

Mike Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how much subsidy for public transport was allocated by (a) Hampshire county council, (b) Portsmouth city council and (c) Southampton city council in each of the last five years in (i) cash and (ii) real terms.

Stephen Ladyman: The amount of subsidy allocated to public transport by these Councils is a matter for them.

Travel to School

Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport pursuant to his Answer of 10 March 2006, Official Report, column 1788W, on travel to school, what percentage of (a) primary and (b) secondary school children travelled to school by (i) walking, (ii) cycling, (iii) bus, (iv) car and (v) another method in each year since 1997.

Stephen Ladyman: Data from the National Travel Survey on the percentage of trips in 1996–98 to 2004 made by children travelling to and from school by mode and age are given in the tables.
	
		Trips to and from school(30) by main mode, 1996–98 to 2004, Great Britain -- Percentage
		
			  Age 5–10 
			  1996–98 1997–99 1998–2000 1999–01 2002 2003 2004 
		
		
			 Walk(31) 55 53 56 54 51 53 50 
			 Bicycle — — — 1 1 1 1 
			 Local/private bus 7 7 7 6 6 6 7 
			 Car/van 36 38 36 39 41 39 41 
			 Other 2 2 1 1 1 1 1 
			 All modes 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 
		
	
	
		Percentage
		
			  Age 11–16 
			  1996–98 1997–99 1998–2000 1999–01 2002 2003 2004 
		
		
			 Walk(31) 43 42 43 43 38 41 44 
			 Bicycle 2 2 2 2 2 2 3 
			 Local/private bus 32 32 32 32 33 32 29 
			 Car/van 21 21 19 19 24 23 22 
			 Other 3 3 4 4 3 3 3 
			 All modes 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 
		
	
	(30) Trips of under 50 miles only.
	(31) Short walks believed to be under-recorded in 2002 and 2003 compared with earlier years.

Travel to School

David Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what percentage of (a) primary and (b) secondary school children in (i) Southend, (ii) Essex, (iii) the Metropolitan police area of London and (iv) Hertfordshire travel to school by (A) foot, (b) bicycle (C) bus, (D) car and (E) other forms of transport.

Stephen Ladyman: Data from the National Travel Survey on the percentage of trips in 2002–04 made by children travelling to and from school by mode and age in Greater London (including City of London) are given in the table.
	
		Percentage of trips to and from school(32) by age and main mode, Greater London, 2002–04 -- Percentage
		
			  5 to 10 years 11 to 16 years 
		
		
			 Walk 48 30 
			 Bicycle 0 1 
			 Car/van 41 20 
			 Bus 8 39 
			 Other 1 10 
			 All modes 100 100 
		
	
	(32) Trips of less than 50 miles only.
	Sample sizes are too small to give results for Essex, Hertfordshire or Southend-on-Sea, and are not available for the Metropolitan police area.

World Cup (Complimentary Tickets)

Greg Hands: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many complimentary tickets his Department has received for games taking place at the FIFA World Cup 2006 in Germany.

Derek Twigg: The Department and its Agencies have not received any tickets for the forth-coming FIFA World Cup in Germany.

World Heritage Sites

David Wright: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport which Minister in his Department has responsibility for issues relating to World Heritage sites.

Derek Twigg: Lead responsibility for policy on World Heritage sites rests with my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport. The Department for Culture, Media and Sport works closely with relevant Government Departments on all issues affecting World Heritage sites. My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Transport has responsibility for all forms of transport policy including issues concerning World Heritage sites which fall within the Department's policy remit, with the support of his ministerial team.

WORK AND PENSIONS

16 Hour Rule

Richard Burden: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions 
	(1)  what recent representations he has received on the 16 hour rule;
	(2)  whether he plans to reform the 16 hour rule.

James Plaskitt: I have received numerous representations in response to the Foyer Federation's 'Give us a chance' campaign. I have also received other correspondence and parliamentary questions about the 16 hour rule. In addition, I have accepted an invitation from the joint chairs of the all parliamentary group on foyers and on youth affairs to attend a meeting to discuss the 16 hour housing benefit rule. This provides both an opportunity to listen and advise what work is already in progress to identify how DWP and Jobcentre Plus can positively support people to study in order to improve their current educational attainment, leading to enhanced employment and career prospects.
	Work to review the interaction between study rules and benefits is ongoing. One of the outcomes of the recent Social Exclusion report "Review of Financial Support, Supporting Young People to Achieve" is that from April 2006, if someone is in non-advanced education when they turn 19 they can continue to receive certain benefits, including income support, and therefore housing benefit, and education maintenance allowance until they have completed their current course of study or reach age 20.
	This is clearly an improvement on the previous situation, but it is likely that there will still be some young people who have had to abandon their attempts to catch up on learning because they reach 20 before they have finished their course. Because of this, the Government are committed to keeping this new age limit under review. Additionally, we recognise that for some a different approach may be needed.
	Consequently, from September as part of the new deal for skills we will be piloting in some Jobcentre Plus districts the effect of allowing low skilled jobseekers to take up full-time further education courses as a route into work when a lack of skills is considered to be a significant barrier.

Benefits

John Cummings: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many people in Easington constituency in receipt of benefits have access to a bank account.

James Plaskitt: Information is not available in the format requested.

Benefits

John Barrett: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many recipients of retirement pension in Edinburgh West constituency use Post Office card accounts.

James Plaskitt: Information showing the number of DWP benefit and pension payment accounts paid by direct payment into a Post Office card account for each parliamentary constituency has been placed in the Library.

Benefits

John Barrett: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many people in Edinburgh West constituency in receipt of benefits have access to a bank account.

James Plaskitt: Information is not available in the format requested.

Child Support

Philip Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many parents with care who have (a) received and (b) applied for a Child Support Agency assessment are (i) not receiving maintenance and (ii) receiving less than £130 per week in benefit.

James Plaskitt: The administration of the Child Support Agency is the matter for the Chief Executive. He will write to the hon. Member with the information requested.
	Letter from Hilary Reynolds
	In reply to your Parliamentary Question about the Child Support Agency the Secretary of State promised a substantive reply from the Chief Executive. As the Chief Executive is unavailable, I am responding on his behalf.
	You asked the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many parents with care who have (a) received and (b) applied for a Child Support Agency assessment are (i) not receiving maintenance and (ii) receiving less than £130 per week in benefit.
	At the end of December 2005, 1.5 million cases were registered with the Agency.
	Of these, in 408,000 cases, the non resident parent had either made a payment via the Agency's collection service in the three months ending 31 December 2005, or a maintenance direct arrangement was in place.
	739,000 cases have a maintenance assessment or calculation made.
	Of these:
	In 472,000 cases the calculation/assessment resulted in a nil liability, meaning that no maintenance was due;
	In 130,000 cases payment was due via the Agency's collection service in the previous 3 months, but the non resident parent had not complied with this request;
	In 136,000 cases a calculation or assessment that resulted in a positive maintenance liability (i.e they were due to pay maintenance) had been made, but the Agency had not yet requested payment from the non-resident parent in the 3 months ending 31 December 2005. Of these, 27,000 were new scheme applications still in the course of being processed.
	At 31 December 2005 there were 300,000 applications still in the course of being processed, and had yet to receive a maintenance calculation or assessment. It should be noted that many of these cases will not progress to this latter stage of the process, as they may be closed, usually at the request of the parent with care, with the remainder being identified as being subject to a Reduced Benefit Decision; had Good Cause accepted; or actually being a change of circumstance in relation to an existing case rather than a new application.
	In the 3 months ending 31 December 2005, in 61 per cent. of the 674,000 cases where a positive maintenance liability had been established, the non resident parent had either made a payment via the Agency's collection service, or a maintenance direct arrangement was in place.
	Where the parent with care is on the old scheme and in receipt of Income Support or Jobseeker's Allowance (income based) the parent with care does not receive any of the maintenance paid, as it is retained by the State, and offset against expenditure on means tested benefits. We are not able to give a precise figure as to the number of the above cases in which this applies, due to limitations with currently available management information. We do know that around 80 per cent. of the total amount of maintenance collected by the Agency goes to the parent with care.
	You also asked how many parents with care were receiving less than £130 per week in benefits. Information relating to the overall amount of social security benefits being received by CSA clients is not available.
	Volumes of cases given in this response are rounded to the nearest thousand, which might mean that, due to rounding, components of the caseload might not sum to their respective totals.
	I hope you find this information helpful.

Child Support

David Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what his target is of the proportion of resident parents who should be receiving maintenance after applying to the Child Support Agency.

James Plaskitt: The administration of the Child Support Agency is a matter for the chief executive. He will write to the hon. Member with the information requested.
	Letter from Hilary Reynolds
	In reply to your Parliamentary Question about the Child Support Agency the Secretary of State promised a substantive reply from the Chief Executive. As the Chief Executive is unavailable, I am responding on his behalf.
	You asked the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what his target is of the proportion of resident parents who should be receiving maintenance after applying to the Child Support Agency.
	Targets for 2006/07 were published in the Agency's annual Business Plan on 30th March.
	The Agency has no target for the proportion of applications that should result in receipt of maintenance as described above. This is because, whether or not an application results in a positive maintenance liabilty being established is not an outcome which is wholly within Agency's control. In particular, prior to this point in the process, cases could either be closed at the request of the Parent with Care, be subject to a Reduced Benefit Decision, have had Good Cause accepted or be identified as being a change of circumstance in relation to an exisiting case.
	Where a positive maintenance liability does exist, the Agency has a target that, by the 31st March 2007, 65 per cent. of such cases will either be in receipt of maintenance via the CSA collection service, or have a maintenance direct arrangement in place.
	I hope you find this helpful.

Child Support

Tony Baldry: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many cases of maladministration the Parliamentary Ombudsman found in respect of the Child Support Agency in each year of the last five years; and in respect of how many of those she recommended that compensation be paid.

James Plaskitt: The administration of the Child Support Agency is a matter for the Chief Executive. He will write to the hon. Member with the information requested.
	Letter from Hilary Reynolds
	In reply to your recent Parliamentary Question about the Child Support Agency the Secretary of State promised a substantive reply from the Chief Executive. The Chief Executive is unavailable, I am responding on his behalf.
	You asked the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many cases of maladministration the Parliamentary Ombudsman found in respect of the Child Support Agency in each year of the last five years; and in respect of how many of those she recommended that compensation be paid.
	The information on special payments is not broken down in a way which identifies which were made as a result of a Parliamentary Ombudsman recommendation. To provide the precise information requested requires clerical examination of individual cases. The Agency is currently working with the Parliamentary Ombudsman to provide this information and will write to you separately as soon as it is available.
	I hope you find this information helpful.
	The table attached shows the available information.
	
		
			  Number of complaints of maladministration upheld 
		
		
			 2000/01 67 
			 2001/02 42 
			 2002/03 35 
			 2003/04 20 
			 2004/05 14 
		
	
	Note:
	Figures for the years 2000/01 to 2003/04 are based on data published in the Parliamentary Ombudsman's annual reports for those years. The figures for 2004/05 are based on information held by the Department for Work and Pensions.

Child Support

Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions in what proportion of cases assessed on the new system of child support maintenance which had previously been assessed under a default maintenance decision the amount of child maintenance deemed to be owed in the final assessment was (a) higher and (b) lower.

James Plaskitt: holding answer 27 February 2006
	The administration of the Child Support Agency is a matter for the Chief Executive. He will write to the right hon. Member with the information requested.
	Letter from Hilary Reynolds
	In reply to your recent Parliamentary Question about the Child Support Agency the Secretary of State promised a substantive reply from the Chief Executive. The Chief Executive is unavailable as he is communicating the Operational Improvement Plan to all Agency staff. I am responding on his behalf.
	You asked the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, in what proportion of cases calculated on the new system of child support maintenance which had previously been calculated under a default maintenance decision was the amount of child maintenance deemed to be owed in the final calculation (a) higher and (b) lower.
	By December 2005, of those cases which had received a maintenance calculation following a previous calculation under a default maintenance decision (DMD):
	21% had a maintenance calculation that was higher than the DMD.
	60% had a maintenance calculation that was lower than the DMD.
	8% had a maintenance calculation with the same value as that imposed under the DMD.
	In 7% of cases, a maintenance calculation was performed in the same month as the DMD. Due to limitations with currently available management information it is not possible to ascertain if the maintenance calculation was higher or lower than the DMD.
	In 4% of cases, limitations with the currently available management information mean that it is not possible to compare the value of the maintenance calculation with that of the DMD.
	It should be noted that figures have been rounded to the nearest whole percent.
	I hope you find this helpful.

Child Support

David Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions whether he will publish Sir David Henshaw's report on the redesign of the Child Support Agency before the summer 2006 recess; and if he will make a statement.

James Plaskitt: Sir David Henshaw will deliver his findings to the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions before the summer recess. It is the intention to publish Sir David Henshaw's report when a statement is made to the House.

National Insurance Numbers

John Denham: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions on how many occasions in the last 12 months his Department checked the immigration status of applicants for national insurance numbers; and how many applications were refused as a result.

James Plaskitt: Individuals entering the UK from abroad who require a National Insurance Number, must attend Jobcentre Plus for an Evidence of Identity interview. The interviewing process is primarily designed to guard against Identity fraud. If Jobcentre Plus becomes aware of immigration or right to work irregularities, it advises the Home Office Immigration and Nationality Directorate of this so that appropriate action can be taken. The number of cases referred to the Immigration and Nationality Directorate as 'potential immigration offenders' between 1 April 2005 and 28 February 2006 is 1,712.

Pathways to Work

Danny Alexander: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what estimate he has made of the proportion of pathways to work participants who would benefit from the condition management programme.

Margaret Hodge: Of all Pathways to Work participants who have accessed the Choices package, 42 per cent. are referrals to the Condition Management Programme (CMP).
	Notes :
	1. The statistics quoted in this response are taken from the Pathways to Work Evaluation Database. 2. Data is to October 2005. 3. The Pathways to Work database only holds information on the number of referrals to the Condition Management Programme (CMP), we cannot tell from our data whether the customer has gone on to start CMP. Other management information suggests that approximately 75 per cent. of CMP referrals result in a CMP start.

Pathways to Work

Danny Alexander: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what estimate he has made of the number of talking therapists that will need to be recruited for a national roll-out of Pathways to Work, assuming that demand for the Condition Management Programme is at a level similar to the demand experienced in the pilot areas; and if he will make a statement.

Margaret Hodge: We recognise that for the success of our reforms, we need to ensure we have sufficient health professionals in a range of specialisation. We are currently creating a planning group to help identify likely requirements and potential solutions. The Department of Health, with whom we are working closely, are already looking at ways in which access to such therapies can be improved.

Post Office Card Account

Anne McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions 
	(1)  for what reason he did not seek to negotiate (a) the contract with the Post Office on the card account and (b) a replacement product;
	(2)  what alternatives he has considered to the Post Office card account; and what estimate he has made of the income to be derived from them by rural sub-post offices.

James Plaskitt: The Post Office card account contract is a finite contract, which ends in March 2010. The question of an extension or renegotiation, therefore, does not arise. It will be for Post Office Ltd. to bring forward proposals for new products and services. We are working with Post Office Ltd. with the best interests of our joint customers in mind.
	Post Office Ltd. has already introduced one new savings account, and is developing other savings and banking products which are likely to be more attractive to many of its customers than the current Post Office card account. At this stage it is not possible to estimate how much income these new products might provide for rural sub-post offices.
	There are already some 25 bank and building society accounts which can be used at Post Offices, with each transaction at the Post Office generating income for Post Office Ltd. We would like every customer of the Department who currently has a Post Office card account to do their banking at the Post Office if that is what they want.

Post Office Card Account

Anne McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what assessment he has made of the impact on those living in isolated villages in the Vale of York of the withdrawal of the Post Office card account in 2010.

James Plaskitt: For customers, there is, in practice, no real difference in accessing money at the Post Office via a bank account compared to a Post Office card account. Customers can collect the same money, on the same day as they do now at the Post Office, by using a plastic card and a personal identification number.
	Around 25 or so different accounts can currently be accessed at Post Offices as well as the Post Office card account, and we hope there could be more in the future. Post Office Ltd. has already introduced one new savings account, and is developing other savings and banking products which are likely to be more attractive to many of its customers than the current Post Office card account.
	We want people to continue to access their cash at the Post Office by using a bank account there or new Post Office products, and we are working with Post Office Ltd. with the best interests of our joint customers in mind.

Post Office Card Account

David Ruffley: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many people used a Post Office card account to access (a) pension credit and (b) child benefit in each of the three years.

James Plaskitt: Information available shows that there were 54,000 pension credit accounts being paid by direct payment into a Post Office card account at February 2004, 826,900 at February 2005 and 934,500 at February 2006.
	Child benefit information is not included as it is the responsibility of Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs.
	Note:
	Figures are rounded to the nearest 100 and refer to pension credit accounts live and in payment on the specified date.

Post Office Card Account

David Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what measures his Department employed at the time of the launch of the Post Office card account to alert (a) customers and (b) sub-postmasters to the fact that it was intended to be phased out in 2010.

James Plaskitt: The contract for the Post Office card account was signed by DWP and Post Office Limited in March 2002. It was clear in the contract that Government funding for the Post Office card account would only continue until 31 March 2010.
	As we were migrating customers from order books to Direct Payment we had to decide what information we provided customers with, and when, so that they could make informed choices about the accounts they wanted to use. Since the Post Office card account had a lifetime of seven years, our judgment was that this was a reasonably lengthy period for a financial product of this type and there was no need draw customers' attention to it at the outset.
	Sub-postmasters are agents of Post Office Limited. Information provided to sub-postmasters is a matter for Post Office Limited.

Social Fund

David Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what the real expenditure on the Social Fund was for each year from 1995–96; how much has been allocated for 2006–07 at 2004–05 prices; and if he will make a statement.

James Plaskitt: The information is in the tables.
	
		Gross discretionary Social Fund expenditure -- £ million
		
			  Cash terms Real terms 
		
		
			 1995–96 401 502 
			 1996–97 432 523 
			 1997–98 462 543 
			 1998–99 501 574 
			 1999–2000 555 624 
			 2000–01 601 666 
			 2001–02 647 700 
			 2002–03 654 686 
			 2003–04 687 702 
			 2004–05 699 699 
			 2005–06 742 727 
		
	
	
		Gross discretionary Social Fund allocation -- £ million
		
			  Cash terms Real terms 
		
		
			 2006–07 842 805 
		
	
	
		Net discretionary Social Fund expenditure -- £ million
		
			  Cash terms Real terms 
		
		
			 1995–96 138 172 
			 1996–97 133 161 
			 1997–98 125 147 
			 1998–99 139 159 
			 1999–2000 129 145 
			 2000–01 128 142 
			 2001–02 145 156 
			 2002–03 134 140 
			 2003–04 158 161 
			 2004–05 164 164 
			 2005–06 194 190 
		
	
	
		Net discretionary Social Fund allocation -- £ million
		
			  Cash terms Real terms 
		
		
			 2006–07 298 285 
		
	
	Notes:
	1. Figures are for Great Britain.
	2. Real terms refers to 2004–05 prices.
	3. Expenditure in real terms has been calculated using the Gross Domestic Product deflator published on the HM Treasury website. This incorporates outturn data to 2004–05 from the Office for National Statistics, last updated on 29 March 2006, and HM Treasury forecasts consistent with the Budget report 2006.
	4. Expenditure and allocations have been rounded to the nearest £1 million.
	Source:
	DWP Social Fund Policy, Budget and Management Information System.
	The gross discretionary social fund budget has benefited from extra AME funding of £90 million over the years 2003–04 to 2005–06, of which £60 million was invested in the national community care grants budget. The national community care grants budget for 2006–07 is over 45 per cent. higher in cash terms than in 1995–96 and 11 per cent. higher in real terms. Further AME funding totalling £210 million over the next three years 2006–07 to 2008–09 has been given to support changes to the national loans scheme.

NORTHERN IRELAND

Arts Council

Nigel Dodds: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what groups have been funded by the Arts Council of Northern Ireland in each of the Belfast parliamentary constituencies in each of the last five years; and what the level of funding was in each case.

David Hanson: I have arranged for copies of the information to be placed in the Library of the House. It should be noted that a number of the organisations who have received funding cover more than one constituency.

Bail

Lady Hermon: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland 
	(1)  what percentage of (a) male and (b) female defendants charged with summary only matters received police bail in the latest year for which figures are available;
	(2)  what percentage of (a) male and (b) female defendants charged with summary only matters remained in custody pending resolution of their case in the latest year for which figures are available;
	(3)  what percentage of (a) male and (b) female defendants charged with offences triable either way received police bail in the latest year for which figures are available;
	(4)  what percentage of (a) male and (b) female defendants charged with offences triable either way remained in custody pending resolution of their case in the latest year for which figures are available;
	(5)  what percentage of (a) male and (b) female defendants charged with indictable only matters in the latest year for which figures are available (i) received police bail, (ii) did not receive police bail but subsequently received court bail and (iii) remained in custody pending resolution of their case.

David Hanson: Until the new Causeway management information system is fully operational it is not currently possible to track defendants in the way requested without incurring a disproportionate cost. As a proxy measure it is however possible to say that of 2,724 discharges from remand in prison in 2005, the remand period ended with bail in 57 per cent. of cases.

Child Sex Abuse

David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland pursuant to his answer of 23 March 2006, Official Report, column 535W, on child sex abuse, how the Police Service of Northern Ireland will collate the cluster of allegations around particular individuals until a decision is made on the introduction of a new database.

Shaun Woodward: The Police Service of Northern Ireland has advised that offender clusters are currently tracked via the Integrated Crime Information System (ICIS).

Dissident Republican Paramilitaries

David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland pursuant to the answer of 17 March 2006, Official Report, column 2591W, on dissident republican paramilitaries, what additional information the eighth report of the Independent Monitoring Commission provided him with that he was not in possession of on 11 January.

Shaun Woodward: In my answers to this question on 27 February and 16 March 2006, I advised you that the recently published IMC report indicated that there is evidence that dissident republican groups are attempting to recruit members. I based my information on the eighth IMC report which was published on 1 February 2006.

Electoral Fraud

Lady Hermon: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many individuals have been (a) charged and (b) convicted of electoral fraud arising out of the (i) 2005 local government elections, broken down by council area and (ii) 2005 Westminster elections, broken down by constituency.

David Hanson: According to the Electoral Office of Northern Ireland's records one individual has been charged with Electoral fraud in relation to either the 2005 local government elections or the 2005 Westminster General Election. This was in the Coleraine Council area.

Parades

Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many of the parades held in Northern Ireland on 17 March took place after the Parades Commission had indicated that discussions between organisers and those who had expressed reservations about the parades should take place.

Shaun Woodward: The Parades Commission urges the organisers of all sensitive or contentious parades to engage in dialogue with parties who may have expressed concerns over aspects of the parade. Parades marked contentious almost invariably result in the commission urging dialogue between relevant parties. As you know, contentious parades are set out on the commission's website.

Police Service (Disciplinary Actions)

David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many Police Service of Northern Ireland officers have been disciplined as a result of the Police Ombudsman for Northern Ireland's report into the 2005 sectarian attack on members of the Royal Black Institution travelling by train.

Shaun Woodward: The Police Service of Northern Ireland has advised that to date no report or recommendations in respect of this incident have been received from the Police Ombudsman's office. No officers have therefore been disciplined as a result.

Police Service (Disciplinary Actions)

David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what discussions he has had with senior Police Service of Northern Ireland officers on ensuring that attacks similar to the one on members of the Loyal Orders travelling by train in Lurgan in 2005 do not occur.

Shaun Woodward: Translink was informed on 8 and 11 July 2005 that it was the view of the PSNI that, despite the planned policing operation, it was likely that attacks would be mounted upon the trains carrying Orangemen to and from Portadown. This view was based upon information received from the public and upon recent events. Translink was not advised to remove the trains as such a decision was for the company alone to make.
	The hon. Gentleman will be aware that the Chief Constable of PSNI retains operational independence in all matters relating to police operations. Queries and complaints about police operations are a matter for the Police ombudsman.

Postal and Proxy Votes

Lady Hermon: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what the percentage change was in the number of (a) postal and (b) proxy votes issued for the 2005 (i) local government and (ii) Westminster elections in Northern Ireland by comparison with each of the previous two comparable elections, broken down by parliamentary constituency.

David Hanson: The following tables show the absent votes issued for the 2005, 2001 and 1997 local government and Westminster elections. They compare the percentage change for the years 1997–2005 and 2001–05, with the exception of the proxy figures for the 1997 Westminster elections as the Electoral Office for Northern Ireland does not hold these figures. Statistics for the local government elections have been kept in local government council areas as the information is not available in a parliamentary constituency format.
	
		Westminster elections postal votes
		
			  Postal votes issued Percentage change 
			 Constituency 1997 2001 2005 1997–05 2001–05 
		
		
			 Belfast, East 748 933 584 -21.93 -37.41 
			 Belfast, North 656 738 570 -13.11 -22.76 
			 Belfast, South 694 992 681 -1.87 -31.35 
			 Belfast, West 687 609 743 8.15 22.00 
			 East Antrim 559 738 622 11.27 -15.72 
			 East Londonderry 1,750 1,954 1,647 -5.89 -15.71 
			 Fermanagh and South  Tyrone 4,927 4,668 4,559 -7.47 -2.34 
			 Foyle 1,102 1,461 2,515 128.22 72.14 
			 Lagan Valley 1,231 1,392 1,087 -11.70 -21.91 
			 Mid-Ulster 3,609 3,114 2,891 -19.89 -7.16 
			 Newry and Armagh 3,021 2,604 1,873 -38 -28.07 
			 North Antrim 1,260 1,499 1,444 14.6 -3.67 
			 North Down 819 935 727 -11.23 -22.25 
			 South Antrim 654 873 711 8.72 -18.56 
			 Strangford 1,057 1,129 861 -18.54 -23.74 
			 Upper Bann 1,561 1,812 1,162 -25.56 -35.87 
			 West Tyrone 3,062 3,431 2,962 -3.27 -13.67 
			 Total 29,844 31,104 27,680 -7.25 -11.01 
		
	
	
		Westminster elections proxy votes
		
			  Proxy votes issued 
			 Constituency 2001 2005 Percentage change 
		
		
			 Belfast, East 224 71 -68.30 
			 Belfast, North 395 185 -53.16 
			 Belfast, South 205 113 -44.88 
			 Belfast, West 385 316 -17.92 
			 East Antrim 266 89 -66.54 
			 East Londonderry 489 193 -60.53 
			 Fermanagh and South Tyrone 1,116 1,052 -5.73 
			 Foyle 620 554 -10.65 
			 Lagan Valley 145 118 -18.62 
			 Mid-Ulster 1,008 745 -26.09 
			 Newry and Armagh 1,022 779 -23.78 
			 North Antrim 278 270 -2.88 
			 North Down 265 91 -65.66 
			 South Antrim 329 114 -65.35 
			 South Down 752 502 -33.24 
			 Strangford 248 103 -58.47 
			 Upper Bann 256 155 -39.45 
			 West Tyrone 2,012 1,247 -38.02 
			 Total 10,015 6,697 -33.13 
		
	
	Note:
	1997 Proxy data not available
	
		District council elections postal votes
		
			  Postal votes issued Percentage change 
			 District council 1997 2001 2005 1997–05 2001–05 
		
		
			 Derry 1,219 1,461 2,512 106.07 71.94 
			 Limavady 733 770 651 -11.19 -15.45 
			 Coleraine 997 1,184 994 -0.3 -16.05 
			 Ballymoney 396 408 472 19.19 15.69 
			 Moyle 273 187 246 -9.89 31.55 
			 Larne 203 302 232 14.29 -23.18 
			 Ballymena 674 904 726 7.72 -19.69 
			 Magherafelt 1,111 1,086 1,053 -5.22 -3.04 
			 Cookstown 2,061 1,567 871 -57.74 -44.42 
			 Strabane 1,307 1,315 1,086 -16.91 -17.41 
			 Omagh 1,773 2,093 1,417 -20.08 -32.30 
			 Fermanagh 3,399 2,835 2,195 -35.42 -22.57 
			 Dungannon 2,431 2,296 2,096 -13.78 -8.71 
			 Craigavon 1,155 1,206 778 -32.64 -35.49 
			 Armagh 2,241 1,710 1,122 -49.93 -34.39 
			 Newry & Mourne 2,331 1,628 1,436 -38.40 -11.79 
			 Banbridge 1,323 1,185 832 -10.43 -29.79 
			 Down 1,645 1,385 1,275 -37.11 -7.94 
			 Lisburn 986 1,147 906 -8.11 -21.01 
			 Antrim 376 474 340 -9.57 -28.27 
			 Newtownabbey 394 589 520 31.98 -11.71 
			 Carrickfergus 247 332 268 8.50 -19.28 
			 North Down 590 816 634 7.46 -22.30 
			 Ards 580 530 620 6.90 16.98 
			 Castlereagh 364 678 493 35.44 -27.29 
			 Belfast 2,180 2,756 2,153 -1.24 21.88 
			 Total 30,989 30,844 22,159 -28.49 -28.16 
		
	
	
		District council elections proxy votes
		
			  Proxy votes issued Percentage change 
			 District council 1997 2001 2005 1997–05 2001–05 
		
		
			 Derry 693 620 554 -20.06 -10.65 
			 Limavady 198 265 93 -53.03 -64.91 
			 Coleraine 297 224 100 -66.33 -55.36 
			 Ballymoney 66 73 91 37.88 24.66 
			 Moyle 107 63 92 -14.02 46.03 
			 Larne 70 109 25 -64.29 -77.06 
			 Ballymena 177 142 87 -19.77 -38.73 
			 Magherafelt 791 434 459 -50.85 5.76 
			 Cookstown 478 256 9 -79.50 -61.72 
			 Strabane 762 801 505 -33.73 -36.95 
			 Omagh 892 1,211 742 -16.82 -38.73 
			 Fermanagh 807 762 876 8.56 14.96 
			 Dungannon 966 668 309 -68.01 -53.74 
			 Craigavon 266 187 132 -50.38 -29.41 
			 Armagh 733 426 236 -67.80 -44.60 
			 Newry and Mourne 1,198 950 826 -31.05 -13.05 
			 Banbridge 202 121 68 -66.34 -43.80 
			 Down 518 391 197 -61.97 -49.62 
			 Lisburn 200 702 150 -25.00 -78.63 
			 Antrim 127 183 22 82.67 -87.98 
			 Newtownabbey 188 238 32 -82.98 -86.55 
			 Carrickfergus 119 113 15 -87.39 -86.73 
			 North Down 175 241 77 -56 -68.05 
			 Ards 147 158 58 -60.55 -63.29 
			 Castlereagh 97 155 73 -24.74 -52.90 
			 Belfast 710 1,039 583 -17.89 -43.89 
			 Total 10,984 10,532 5,716 -47.96 -45.73

Poverty

Iris Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many (a) children and (b) adults were living in poverty in each (i) Westminster constituency and (ii) district council area in the Province in the latest period for which figures are available.

Angela Smith: This information has been placed in the Library.

Principal Civil Service Pension Scheme

Philip Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what the current employer contribution rates to the Principal Civil Service pension scheme are; what assumed rate of return underlies those contribution rates; and what the contribution rate would be if the assumed rate of return was in line with current redemption yield on index-linked gilts.

Peter Hain: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given by the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for the Cabinet Office on 29 March 2006, Official Report, column 1031W.

Schools

Nigel Dodds: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how much money has been allocated for the development of curriculum materials for (a) Irish medium schools and (b) integrated schools by the Department of Education in each of the last 10 years.

Angela Smith: pursuant to the reply, 1 March 2006, Official Report, c. 784W
	I wish to clarify part of the answer.
	I referred to a one-off allocation of £67,000 made by the Department in 2005–06 for Irish medium curriculum materials. This was in fact for Irish language materials for use in non-Irish medium schools.

Sentencing (Averages)

Patrick Cormack: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what the average sentence passed for those convicted of offences connected with (a) extortion, (b) intellectual property crimes, (c) money laundering, (d) smuggling and (e) oils fraud in Northern Ireland was over the last five years.

Shaun Woodward: Table 1 provides the number sentenced to immediate custody for extortion, intellectual property offences, money laundering and smuggling and the average custodial sentence for each, for the calendar years 1999 to 2003. Convictions specifically for oils fraud cannot be separately identified but are incorporated within the smuggling category. There is no definitive list of offences falling within each of the groupings of interest, thus Table 1 has been footnoted to indicate the offences covered. Data beyond 2003 is currently not available. Figures are based on a principal offence rule.
	
		Table 1: Number sentenced to immediate custody and average custodial sentence length in months—extortion, intellectual property offences, money laundering and smuggling in Northern Ireland 1999–2003
		
			  Extortion(33) Intellectual property offences(34) Money laundering(35) Smuggling(36) 
			  Number sentenced (custody) Average sentence length (months) Number sentenced (custody) Average sentence length (months) Number sentenced (custody) Average sentence length (months) Number sentenced (custody) Average sentence length (months) 
		
		
			 1999 4 41 0 0 0 0 38 23 
			 2000 14 32 2 3 0 0 62 24 
			 2001 0 0 1 60 0 0 59 25 
			 2002 9 39 0 0 1 12 39 22 
			 2003 5 28 0 0 0 0 47 29 
		
	
	(33) Includes Blackmail (Theft Act (NI) 1969) and contributions towards acts of terrorism (Terrorism Act 2000, section 15).
	(34) Includes offences under section 107 of the Copyright Designs and Patent Act 1988, and sections 92 and 94 of the Trademarks Act 1994.
	(35) Includes offences under Proceeds of Crime legislation.
	(36) Includes offences under section 170 of the Customs and Excise Management Act 1979 and possession of controlled drugs with intent to supply (Misuse of Drugs Act 1971 section 5(3)).
	(37) Average sentence lengths rounded to nearest whole number.
	Source:
	NIO, Statistics and Research Branch

Smart Passes

Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many senior citizen smart passes have been issued in Northern Ireland in the last 12 months.

Shaun Woodward: Translink has advised that, between 1 April 2005 and 31 March 2006 a total of 16,586 Senior SmartPasses were issued to senior citizens in Northern Ireland. Of these 11,530 were issued to first-time applicants and 5,056 replaced passes which were faulty, lost or stolen.

St. Patrick's Day

Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what the estimated total costs are of (a) travel, (b) accommodation and (c) other associated activity of those public representatives and officials from Northern Ireland travelling to the United States for events at the White House around 17 March.

Peter Hain: The following costs relate to expenses incurred in respect of the Secretary of State and officials from the Northern Ireland Office and the Devolved Administration attending events during the week of St. Patrick's Day. This included the NI Bureau breakfast which showcases investment opportunities in Northern Ireland to US businesses.
	
		
			  Amount (£) 
		
		
			 Travel 41,259.20 
			 Accommodation 2,736.00 
			 Other (including car hire) 1,765.00

Television Stand-by Switches

Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what research has been undertaken on provision in televisions of automatic time controlled stand-by switches which revert to off.

Elliot Morley: I have been asked to reply.
	Defra's Market Transformation Programme (MTP), which supports Government policy on sustainable products, is aware from discussions with industry that this functionality could be added to televisions (with the exception of IDTVs which require a degree of constant power) at a reasonable cost. However, there are currently no televisions available on the market which switch automatically from stand-by into off after a pre-set time.
	The Government are committed to reducing the amount of power used by products when in stand-by mode. The new Eco-Design for Energy Using Products Framework Directive provides a route for setting mandatory standards for products and we are pressing for stand-by power to be a priority area for action. The MTP has also been working to promote other measures: for example, an EU-wide voluntary agreement means that the majority of new televisions sold in the UK now consume around 1 watt of power in stand-by mode rather than the 3–8 watts consumed by older models. Discussions are now under way to extend this agreement to cover other consumer electronics.
	The Budget also announced a new initiative, in partnership with major retailers and the Energy Saving Trust, to introduce voluntary schemes in the retail sector which encourage the purchase of more energy efficient alternatives in consumer electronics.

World Heritage Sites

David Wright: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland which Minister in his Department has responsibility for issues relating to World Heritage sites.

Angela Smith: My right hon. Friend, Lord Rooker and I have responsibilities for different aspects relating to Northern Ireland's only World Heritage site.
	Lord Rooker, in his role as Minister of the Environment, has responsibility for management and conservation issues relating to the Giant's Causeway and Causeway Coast World Heritage site, which is the only such site, in Northern Ireland. In my role as Minister for the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Investment, I am responsible for the development of new visitor facilities at the Giant's Causeway.

HEALTH

"Every Child Matters"

David Lidington: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what guidance she has issued to primary care trusts about their responsibilities and priorities in implementing the Government's Every Child Matters policy; and if she will make a statement.

Liam Byrne: holding answer 18 April 2006
	The Every Child Matters: Change for Children programme is a joint programme between the Department and the Department for Education and Skills, which sets out the national framework for local change programmes to build services around the needs for children and young people. Since the launch of the programme in 2004, a range of documents have been published to support local delivery.
	These include the "National Service Framework for Children, Young People and Maternity Services" (2004), "Every Child Matters: Change for Children in Health Services" (2004), the "Children Act 2004", which provides the statutory framework underpinning the Every Child Matters programme (including "Statutory guidance on inter-agency co-operation to improve the wellbeing of children: children's trusts" (2005) and "Making arrangements to safeguard and promote the welfare of children" (2005)). Other publications include "Health and the Whole Child: What Children's Trusts mean for Health Professionals" (2006), "Pathways to Success" (2006) and "Joint planning and commissioning framework for children, young people and maternity services" (2006).
	A range of exemplars have also been published, including asthma, acquired brain injury, autism and complex disability. The good practice guide "Transition: Getting it Right for Young People", was published in March 2006.
	Chief executives in primary care trusts are alerted to relevant guidance published under the Every Child Matters programme through the Chief Executive Bulletin.
	All guidance issued under the Every Child Matters programme are available on its website at www.everychildmatters.gov.uk.

Abortion

David Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many women seeking an abortion in England gave (a) Northern Ireland and (b) Republic of Ireland addresses in each year since 1980.

Caroline Flint: The information is shown in the table.
	
		Number of abortions in England and Wales to residents of Ireland, 1980–2004
		
			  Northern Ireland Irish Republic 
		
		
			 1980 1,565 3,320 
			 1981 1,441 3,603 
			 1982 1,510 3,653 
			 1983 1,460 3,677 
			 1984 1,530 3,946 
			 1985 1,637 3,888 
			 1986 1,724 3,918 
			 1987 1,746 3,673 
			 1988 1,815 3,839 
			 1989 1,816 3,721 
			 1990 1,855 4,064 
			 1991 1,775 4,154 
			 1992 1,794 4,254 
			 1993 1,629 4,402 
			 1994 1,678 4,590 
			 1995 1,548 4,532 
			 1996 1,573 4,894 
			 1997 1,572 5,340 
			 1998 1,581 5,891 
			 1999 1,430 6,226 
			 2000 1,528 6,391 
			 2001 1,577 6,673 
			 2002 1,391 6,522 
			 2003 1,318 6,320 
			 2004 1,280 6,217

Abortion

David Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many abortions have been performed in (a) Great Britain and (b) Essex under the Abortion Act 1967 as amended by section 37 of the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act 1990; how many and what percentage of such abortions were performed (i) to save the life of the mother, and (ii) where the child would have been seriously handicapped.

Caroline Flint: The number of abortions performed in England and Wales on residents of England and Wales in the 37 years, 1968 to 2004 was 5.10 million. Of these 23,598 (0.5 per cent.) were performed under sections 1(l) (c) and 1(4) of the Abortion Act 1967. These are cases where the continuance of the pregnancy would involve risk to the life of the pregnant woman, greater than if the pregnancy were terminated, or where the termination is immediately necessary to save the life or to prevent grave permanent injury to the physical or mental health of the pregnant woman. 66,374 abortions (1.4 per cent. of the total) were performed under section l(l) (d) ; that there is a substantial risk that if the child were born it would suffer from such physical or mental abnormalities as to be seriously handicapped.
	Due to boundary changes, it is not possible to give the total number of abortions performed in Essex in the years 1968 to 2004.

Abortion

David Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether it is her policy to promote (a) abortion and (b) the morning-after pill as a way to reduce the rate of teenage pregnancies; and if she will make a statement.

Caroline Flint: The teenage pregnancy strategy aims to help young people delay early sex through improved sex and relationships education and support for parents in discussing relationship and sexual health issues with their children. However, it is very important that teenagers who are sexually active have access to contraception, including emergency contraception, and sexual health advice to minimise the risk of pregnancy or sexually transmitted infections.
	Health professionals provide contraception and advice on abortion to young people within an established legal framework which involves assessing the young person's competence to understand the choices they are making and encouraging them to talk to their parents.

Abortion

David Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what recent assessment she has made of the impact of the morning-after pill on the overall abortion rate in England; and if she will make a statement.

Caroline Flint: We are not aware of any studies which have been able to predict the effect the availability of emergency contraception through pharmacies or the national health service has on unintended pregnancy rates or abortions.

Abortion

David Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Health which organisations in the field of reproductive health are funded by her Department; how much her Department plans to give to each organisation in the next two years; whether account is taken of an organisation's position on abortion when allocating public funds; and if she will make a statement.

Caroline Flint: The Department funds the Family Planning Association and Brook. The Department will confirm their funding for the next two financial years shortly. When allocating funding account is taken of the extent to which organisations work to further the Department's health and social care objectives, including those for sexual and reproductive health.

Abortion

David Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if she will make a statement on the operation of statutory instruments (a) 1976/15 and (b) 1980/1724.

Caroline Flint: The statutory instruments 1976/15 and 1980/1724 were revoked and replaced by the Abortion Regulations 1991.

Administration Spending

John Pugh: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what average percentage of budget acute trusts spent on administration in 2004–05.

Jane Kennedy: In 2004–05 expenditure on administration by all national health service trusts in England as a percentage of total income was 7 per cent.

Animal Insulin

Jessica Morden: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps have been taken to ensure the availability of animal insulin in light of the announcement by Novo Nordisk that they intend to discontinue supply.

Jane Kennedy: The other supplier of animal insulin to the United Kingdom, Wockhardt UK, has assured the Department of its commitment to continue the supply of its products. It has also given assurance that it will be able to meet any increased demand when Novo Nordisk's products are no longer available.

Audiology

David Lidington: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what (a) the three-month vacancy rate and (b) the three-month vacancy number was for audiologists (i) in England and (ii) in each hospital trust in March 2006; and if she will make a statement.

Liam Byrne: holding answer 18 April 2006
	The results from the 2006 vacancy survey have yet to be published. The latest published three-month vacancy rate for audiologists in England and in each hospital trust in March 2005 is available in the Library.

Audiology

David Lidington: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many qualified audiologists were employed (a) in England and (b) in each hospital trust in September 2005; and if she will make a statement.

Liam Byrne: holding answer 18 April 2006
	The results from the September 2005 census will be published on the 24 April 2006.
	Data on the number of qualified audiology staff in post in England and in each hospital trust as at September 2004 has been placed in the Library.

Cancer Treatment (Children)

Edward Vaizey: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment her Department has made of the effect of the EU Clinical Trials Directive, and implementing UK legislation, on the development of treatments for children with cancer.

Jane Kennedy: The directive acknowledges the need for clinical trials involving children to improve the treatments available to them. In conjunction with the aims of the directive to protect trial subjects, particular emphasis is laid on the issue of informed consent for trials involving minors. The Government are committed to making an assessment of the effects of implementation of the directive as soon as reliable evidence is available. The Medicines and Health products Regulatory Agency, which acts as the licensing authority for all clinical trials within the directive's scope, has asked the United Kingdom clinical research collaboration to review the evidence to date, consider how to reduce any adverse regulatory impact, including the perceived extra bureaucracy involved, and agree plans for long-term monitoring. Additionally, Cancer Research UK and the national clinical research network have undertaken initial assessments of opinion about the effect of the directive on cancer clinical trials across the UK. Other assessments are being carried out at the European level with the Federation of European Cancer Societies.

Care Homes

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether she plans to introduce regulations obliging (a) general practitioners and (b) other health workers commissioned by a primary care trust who also have an equity interest in care homes to disclose those details to the trust.

Jane Kennedy: There are no present plans to make regulations on this matter.

Chronic Hepatitis B

Joan Walley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what funding has been made available for research into the hepatitis B virus.

Jane Kennedy: The main agency through which the Government support medical and clinical research is the Medical Research Council (MRC). The MRC is an independent body funded by the Department of Trade and Industry via the Office of Science and Technology.
	Expenditure by the MRC on research directly concerned with hepatitis B infection has been as follows:
	
		£ million
		
			  Amount 
		
		
			 2001–02 1 
			 2002–03 1.2 
			 2003–04(38) 1.2 
		
	
	(38) Information in respect of later years is not yet available.
	The research undertaken by the MRC on hepatitis generally and hepatitis C may also be of relevance.
	The Department funds research to support policy and to provide the evidence needed to underpin quality improvement and service development in the national health service. The Department's national research programme spend since 2001 on projects related to hepatitis B has been £81,000.
	Over 75 per cent. of the Department's total expenditure on health research is devolved to and managed by NHS organisations. Details of individual projects, including a number concerned with hepatitis B infection, can be found on the national research register on the Department's website at www.dh.gov.uk/research.

Clinical Standards for Food, Fluid and Nutritional Care

Paul Flynn: To ask the Secretary of State for Health when she will publish NHS draft clinical standards for food, fluid and nutritional care for public consultation.

Caroline Flint: 'Standards for Better Health', the national standards for the national health service published in July 2004, includes the following core standard.
	C15. Where food is provided, health care organisations have systems in place to ensure that
	patients are provided with a choice and that it is prepared safely and provides a balanced diet; and
	patients' individual nutritional, personal and clinical dietary requirements are met, including any necessary help with feeding and access to food 24 hours a day.
	The draft of 'Standards for Better Health' was publicly consulted on from February to May 2004.

Clinical Trials

David Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many (a) males and (b) females took part in clinical trials in each year since 1996, broken down by health authority.

Jane Kennedy: The information requested is not held centrally at present. The Government's new national health research strategy "Best Research for Best Health", published on 25 January 2006, included plans to strengthen the information systems that support health research.

Clinical Trials

David Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what legislation governs clinical trials in hospitals in England and Wales; and if she will make a statement.

Jane Kennedy: The legislation that governs clinical trials of drugs is the Medicines for Human Use (Clinical Trials) Regulations 2004. The Medical Device Regulations 2002 govern the trials of medical devices. These regulations apply to trials conducted in hospitals as well as to trials conducted in units attached to hospitals or elsewhere. One requirement of the regulations governing clinical trials is that anyone conducting a trial does it in accordance with the conditions and principles of good clinical practice.
	The Research Governance Framework for Health and Social Care (Department of Health, 2005) applies the same principles across all health and social care research which relate to the responsibilities of the Secretary of State for Health. A core standard for health care organisations is that they have systems to ensure the principles and requirements of this framework are consistently applied. National health service bodies have to take this standard into account in discharging their duty, under the Health and Social Care (Community Health and Standards) Act 2003, to put and keep in place arrangements for the purpose of monitoring and improving the quality of health care.
	The clinical negligence scheme for trusts is a scheme established under the National Health Service and Community Care Act 1990 for meeting losses and liabilities of health service bodies in England and Wales. Health Service Guidelines HSG(96)48 set out the scope of NHS Indemnity, which includes the liability of NHS bodies for negligent harm to subjects of clinical research.

Clinical Trials

David Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if she will list the hospitals in England in which clinical trials take place; and if she will make a statement.

Jane Kennedy: Clinical trials take place at all national health service hospital trusts in England with the exception of Calderstones NHS Trust.
	The information requested is collected on a trust basis and not by individual hospital.

Colonoscopy

Roger Gale: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what her Department's target waiting time is for an urgent colonoscopy.

Jane Kennedy: holding answer 7 February 2006
	There are no specific waiting time targets for urgent colonoscopies. However, where a patient needs an urgent colonoscopy following urgent referral by their general practitioner for suspected cancer, the whole patient pathway from referral to commencing treatment should not exceed 62 days.
	Outside of the cancer pathway, by 2008, there will be a maximum 18-week pathway from referral to treatment. This will include time spent waiting for diagnostic tests.

Dentistry

Simon Burns: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many (a) adults and (b) children were registered with an NHS dentist in West Chelmsford constituency in 1997.

Rosie Winterton: The number of adults and children registered with a national health service dentist in West Chelmsford Constituency as at 31 December 1997 is shown in the table.
	
		
			  Number 
		
		
			 Children 21,086 
			 Adults 62,889 
			 Total 83,975 
		
	
	Source:
	Dental Practice Board

Departmental Policies

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if she will set out, with statistical information relating as directly as possible to Islington, South and Finsbury constituency, the effects on Islington, South and Finsbury of her Department's policies and actions since 2 May 1997.

Jane Kennedy: The Government have put in place a programme of national health service investment and reform since 1997 to improve service delivery in all parts of the United Kingdom. There is significant evidence that these policies have yielded considerable benefits for the Islington South and Finsbury areas.
	For example:
	At the end of January 2006, the number of people waiting more than six months for in-patient treatment within Islington Primary Care Trust (PCT) has fallen to zero from 479 in June 2002.
	At the end of December 2005, the number of patients waiting over 13 weeks for out-patient treatment within Islington PCT has fallen to one from 1,413 in June 2002.
	Figures for December 2005 show that all patients within Islington PCT were able to be offered an appointment with a general practitioner within two working days, an improvement from 69.7 per cent. in June 2002.
	Islington PCT's financial allocation increased to £299 million for 2005–06, a real terms increase of 6.9 per cent. By 2007–08, the PCT's financial allocation will increase to £363.9 million.
	Between September 1997 and June 2005, the number of consultants at Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children NHS Trust has increased from 137 to 224. The number of nurses increased from 784 in September 1997 to 1,101 in September 2004.
	In the Islington local authority area, death rates from coronary heart disease per 100,000 in 1997 165.5 in 2004 154.1.
	Five primary care premises in Islington have been identified for redevelopment through the Islington and Camden Local Improvement Finance Trust (LIFT) scheme. Islington and Camden was chosen as one of the first LIFT sites in the country because of the high health needs among the local people and because of the poor state of many primary care premises. The first two schemes have now achieved full business case approval and work has started on site. This provides a unique opportunity to develop 21st century primary care premises in Islington and Camden both immediately and in the future.

Electricity Pylons

Willie Rennie: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment her Department has made of the possible health risks to (a) children, (b) the elderly and (c) those who have suffered cancer of residing near electricity pylons.

Caroline Flint: The Health Protection Agency's (HPA) radiation protection division has the responsibility for providing advice on exposure to electromagnetic fields (EMF). As part of its policy of ongoing evaluation of scientific evidence it reviewed its advice in 2004 on limiting exposure to EMF including that from electric and magnetic fields from power lines (extremely low frequency or ELF). The currently adopted restrictions on exposure are designed to prevent adverse health effects for members of the public of all ages and of varying health status. The HPA's advice is available on its website at www.hpa.org.uk/radiation
	At the request of the Department, the HPA's radiation protection division addressed the issues of uncertainty in the science and aspects of precaution. The HPA's advice noted that an association between prolonged exposures to power frequency fields and childhood leukaemia has been found, the scientific reasons for which are presently uncertain. In the light of these findings and the requirement for additional research the HPA proposed that
	"the need for further precautionary measures should be considered by Government"
	In response, the stakeholder advisory group on ELF EMF (SAGE) was set up to explore the implications for a precautionary approach and make practical recommendations for precautionary measures. SAGE is currently developing its advice and is expected to report later this year. Details of this process can be found on RK Partnership's website at: www.rkpartnership.co.uk/sage

Health Care (Patient Control)

Edward Davey: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what research her Department has commissioned on the relationship between the amount of control the individual patient has over his or her healthcare and the efficacy of that care.

Jane Kennedy: The Department funds research to support policy and to provide the evidence needed to underpin quality improvement and service development in the national health service and through its service delivery and organisation and health technology assessment programmes, has funded a number of projects of relevance to the hon. Member's question. These include:
	A study of patients' and carers' views and choices in their use of primary care services;
	A scoping exercise to identify the extent and nature of both current NHS policy and the literature concerned with patient choice and the organisation and delivery of health services;
	A randomised controlled trial to assess the impact of a package comprising a patient-orientated, evidence-based self-help guidebook and patient-centred consultations on disease management and satisfaction in inflammatory bowel disease;
	A systematic review and economic evaluation of the clinical and cost-effectiveness of patient education models for diabetes; and
	A multicentre randomised controlled trial assessing the costs and benefits of using structured information and analysis of women's preferences in the management of menorrhagia.

Health Services (Gloucestershire)

Laurence Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if she will make a statement on the proposed reductions in health services in Gloucestershire.

Caroline Flint: holding answer 18 April 2006
	It is the responsibility of the primary care trusts (PCTs) in Gloucestershire to commission the necessary national health service for the treatment and care of their local populations. Local PCTs have the local knowledge and expertise to plan and review services as necessary, and it is not appropriate for my Department to intervene.
	The NHS is in receipt of record increases in resources. Funding of the NHS has increased from £34.7 billion in 1997–98 to £69.7 billion in 2004–05. By 2007–08 spending on the NHS will have increased to over £97 billion. With this level of investment all NHS bodies should be able to plan and achieve financial balance every year. However, NHS organisations need to continue to look at the way they provide services to ensure that they are delivering the best possible value for money. In some areas, they will need to make tough decisions to ensure funding is used in the best possible way.

Hospitals (Targets)

Ashok Kumar: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps she is taking to help hospitals failing to meet the Government's targets for (a) cancer, (b) MRSA infections and (c) waiting times.

Jane Kennedy: The NHS Cancer Plan sets out the Government's plans to reduce waiting times for diagnosis and treatment. A target of a maximum two-month wait from urgent general practitioner referral to first treatment for all cancer patients was put into place at the end of December 2005 and should be met for all cancer patients treated from 1 January 2006.
	The quarter's data, for the period January to March 2006, will be used to assess performance against this target and will be available in June 2006. The 62-day target is challenging but has been achieved for breast cancer and for other cancers in other parts of the country. The national health service is working hard to ensure that this target will shortly be met for all cancer patients.
	The national cancer waits project team are working with those trusts and health authorities who are finding it challenging to understand the pathways their patients experience, and who need to improve their services to deliver these targets. This work will continue until we are sure that the changes they are making are delivering, and are sustainable.
	We have also made guidance available to cancer networks, trusts and clinical teams on the 10 "High Impact Changes" that will most help them to deliver cancer waiting times and improve the patients' experience and we are sharing examples of best practice.
	We have set up a methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) improvement programme, with specialist teams providing tailored support for trusts that have significant challenge in meeting their target and are monitoring the trusts' performance. Work has begun with three trusts that were first to volunteer to pilot the support programme; Sandwell and West Birmingham, Northumbria, and Aintree NHS Trusts. These teams, which comprise a programme manager, analyst and specialists in infection control, will move on to support up to 17 further trusts during 2006–07. Selection will depend on progress towards the MRSA target and other factors. I will announce the additional trusts to join the programme at stages, during 2006.
	The NHS now has an operating standard of six months for inpatient treatment. At the end of February 2006, less than 100 NHS patients were waiting more than six months for treatment. The Healthcare Commission is responsible for assessing NHS organisations against these standards annually and the Department will continue to scrutinise performance on waiting times, taking action through strategic health authorities if issues arise in relation to waiting times for patients.

Malignant Disease

Andrew Murrison: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment she has made of the contribution of (a) environmental factors and (b) longevity to the incidence of malignant disease; and if she will make a statement.

Caroline Flint: There are many different types of cancer, the causes of which are multifactorial rather than there being a single cause for any particular type of cancer, and this should be recognised. It is known that lifestyle factors such as smoking, consumption of alcoholic beverages, physical activity/obesity, and also occupational exposure to certain chemicals in the past, especially asbestos, have a major influence on cancer incidence. It is very difficult to estimate the burden due to environmental factors but some of the available data is summarised as follows.
	Exposure to ionizing radiation is known to produce leukaemia and other cancers, although there is little direct data available on the burden of disease from this cause. Exposure to radon, a naturally occurring radioactive gas, is a cause of lung cancer and there is a markedly increased risk in smokers. It has been estimated that about two per cent. of cancer deaths in Europe may be due to radon.
	Exposure to ultraviolet radiation from sunlight increases the risk of skin cancer. Skin cancer is one of the most common cancers in the United Kingdom and the incidence of the disease is rising rapidly. However, up to 80 per cent. of cases could be avoided.
	There is little convincing evidence to indicate that environmental exposure to chemicals in the UK causes cancer. However, exposure to environmental tobacco smoke (passive smoking) is known to be associated with a 10 to 30 per cent. increase in lung cancer.
	Additionally, dietary factors are estimated to account for approximately 30 per cent. of cancers in industrialised countries—making diet only second to tobacco as a preventable cause of cancer. In particular, obesity is associated with an increase in risk of some cancers such as colorectal and breast cancers while increasing the intake of fruit and vegetables and physical activity is associated with decreased risk.
	Cancer is predominantly a disease of the elderly, with the incidence of the disease increasing markedly with age. Longevity of an individual is therefore associated with an increased risk of developing cancer, and the aging of the population is associated with an increasing number of cancer cases overall.

Medical Research

Andrew Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the (a) budget of the Medical Research Council and (b) the NHS research and development budget has been in each year since 1997–98 in (i) real and (ii) nominal terms.

Jane Kennedy: The information requested is shown in the table.
	
		£ million
		
			  Medical Research  Council NHS Research and  Development 
			  (39)Cash (40)Real terms Cash (41)Real terms 
		
		
			 1997–98 289 347 426 511 
			 1998–99 290 339 420 491 
			 1999–2000 305 349 434 498 
			 2000–01 319 361 448 507 
			 2001–02 350 386 475 525 
			 2002–03 372 398 506 542 
			 2003–04 430 448 533 556 
			 2004–05 458 468 601 614 
			 2005–06 503 503 617 617 
		
	
	(39) figures for years to 2000–01 are cash based and for later years are expenditure based
	(40) 2005–06 cash equivalent calculated using the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) deflator
	(41) 2005–06 cash equivalent calculated using the GDP deflator

Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency

Barry Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what average time it has taken for an application for (a) a new and (b) a variation of a medicine to be approved by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency.

Jane Kennedy: The most recent full-year figures for new medicines approval times by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) are for 2004–05. These show an average approval time, from receipt of the application to grant of the licence, of 288 calendar days. This period however includes the time taken by applicants to supply any necessary new or correcting information following the initial assessment of their application. When this is taken into account the actual number of net working days taken by the MHRA reduces to an average of 122 days.
	For the relatively small number of completely new medicines, for example those containing new drugs and with the potential for meeting unmet medical needs in major diseases, the MHRA, during the same period, has maintained its record of assessing these in under 40 days.
	For all types of variations to product licences, whether straightforward or complex, and again in the most recent full year for which figures are available, 2004–05, the average time taken to approve, from receipt of the application to grant of the variation, was 67 calendar days. This includes time taken waiting for the company to provide any further information needed.
	More recent figures show a lengthening of assessment and approval times. For example, for the first seven months of 2005–06 (April to October) the approval time for new product licences had increased to 153 net working days or 404 gross calendar days.
	These exceed the MHRA's assessment and approval target times and it is well aware of the impact this is having on pharmaceutical company business. This lengthening of assessment and approval times has been caused by a combination of adverse factors including increases in workload, difficulties in recruiting professional assessment staff, especially medically-qualified staff, and transitional implementation problems during the introduction of a new information management system.
	The MHRA is taking a number of steps to improve service levels. These include organisational restructuring, additional recruitment, re-training of staff, voluntary schemes for extended working hours, and information system performance enhancements.

Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency

Barry Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment she has made of the methods used by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency to approve new medicines.

Jane Kennedy: The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) approves new medicines for marketing in the United Kingdom and is required to follow procedures set out in European legislation. The basis of its licensing decisions is its assessment of the data provided by companies attesting to the quality, safety and efficacy of their new product. This assessment is carried out by professionally qualified and experienced staff in the fields of medicine, toxicology, pharmacy and other scientific disciplines relevant to the product under review. The MHRA is a benchmark agency within the European Community for the quality of its assessments and processes and is recognised as a leading player in European medicines licensing.
	The MHRA assessment process and decision-making is supported by internationally recognised technical guidelines and, where necessary, by external expert advice.
	The MHRA's business procedures are subjected to internal and external audit as part of its risk management and corporate governance procedures. The MHRA's directors and managers are required to keep their processes under constant review and to strive to make year-on-year efficiency and effectiveness improvements.

NHS Debt

Anne Main: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the level of pre-existing debt is within the NHS; what her Department's plans are for reducing it; and if she will make a statement.

Jane Kennedy: The overall audited net national health service deficit position for 2004–05 was around £250 million. This represents around 0.4 per cent. of overall NHS resources. At 2005–06 month six, the NHS was forecasting a net deficit of £620 million. This forecast deficit amounts to less than 1 per cent. of the funding available.
	We are taking action with the minority of organisations that are underperforming to ensure that the position improves and financial balance is restored in the NHS by the end of 2006–07.
	For the organisations with the biggest problems we have sent in financial and management specialists (turnaround teams) to help the organisations address their problems of poor financial management.
	The turnaround teams will support the NHS in identifying opportunities to deliver services with greater cost-effectiveness and to make financial savings. They will help the local NHS ensure that the NHS delivers both its key targets and financial balance.

NHS Expenditure

Nigel Evans: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much the NHS has spent per head of the population in (a) Lancashire and (b) Ribble Valley in each year since 1997.

Liam Byrne: holding answer 18 April 2006
	The information is not available in the format requested. However, the following table shows expenditure per capita by all relevant health authorities, strategic health authorities (SHA) and primary care trusts (PCTs) within the current Lancashire and Cumbria SHA area.
	
		Total expenditure per head by organisations within the Cumbria and Lancashire SHA area
		
			  Expenditure (£) 
		
		
			 1997–98 614.10 
			 1998–99 679.92 
			 1999–2000 819.63 
			 2000–01 894.22 
			 2001–02 1,021.73 
			 2002–03 1,215.84 
			 2003–04 1,277.22 
			 2004–05 1,260.32 
		
	
	Notes:
	1. Figures for 1997–98 to 2001–02 have been prepared using gross expenditure figures. Figures for 2002–03 and 2003–04 have been adjusted to eliminate expenditure which would be double counted where an authority acts as a lead in commissioning healthcare or other services.
	2. The significant decrease in expenditure in 2004–05 is because student grants unit expenditure by the Cumbria and Lancashire SHA (£369 million was included in the authority's accounts in 2003–04) was transferred to the NHS Pensions Agency in 2004–05.
	3. Data is shown from 1997–98 to 2004–05, which is the latest year for which information is available.
	4. Expenditure is taken as the total expenditure of the strategic health authority, predecessor health authorities and PCTs within the SHA area.
	5. Expenditure on general dental services and pharmaceutical services accounted for by the Dental Practice Board and Prescription Pricing Authority, respectively, are excluded. This expenditure cannot be included within the figures for the individual health bodies as they are not included in commissioner accounts.
	Sources:
	Audited accounts of health authorities 1997–98 and 1998–99
	Audited summarisation forms of health authorities 1999–2000 to 2001–02
	Audited summarisation schedules of primary care trusts 2000–01 to 2004–05
	Audited summarisation forms of Cumbria and Lancashire SHA 2002–03 to 2004–05

NHS Expenditure

John Hemming: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the expected (a) turnover, (b) fixed capital costs as a proportion of turnover, (c) fixed costs and (d) financial out-turn is for each NHS hospital trust for 2005–06.

Jane Kennedy: The information requested on turnover, fixed capital costs as a proportion of turnover and financial out-turn for 2005–06 for each national health service trust has been placed in the Library.
	The turnover and forecast out-turn position for 2005–06, as submitted by both NHS trusts and primary care trusts at the mid-year point (month six), is available in the Library. Copies of this information is also available on the Department's website at:
	www.dh.gov.uk/publicationsandstatistics/freedomofinformation/classesofinformation/fs/en

Obesity

Greg Knight: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the cost to the national health service of weight loss surgery was in each year since 1997; and if she will make a statement.

Caroline Flint: Information on the cost of delivering weight loss surgery is not collected centrally.

Public Interest Reports

Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  at what point and by whom it is determined in relation to any NHS body that a public interest report needs to be (a) compiled, (b) issued and (c) published;
	(2)  how many public interest reports have been issued across all NHS bodies, broken down by strategic health authority, in (a) 2002–03, (b) 2003–04, (c) 2004–05 and (d) 2005–06;
	(3)  which NHS bodies have had relevant public interest reports issued in the current financial year 2005–06 and in relation to which NHS bodies consideration is being given to the issuance of a public interest report in 2006–07.

Liam Byrne: holding answer 18 April 2006
	Auditors appointed by the Audit Commission to audit the accounts of national health service bodies have the discretionary power under section 8 of the Audit Commission Act 1998 to issue a report in the public interest.
	Section 8 of the Act requires auditors in auditing the accounts to consider whether, in the public interest, they should report on any matter coming to their notice in the course of the audit, in order for it to be considered by the body concerned or brought to the attention of the public. The auditor can issue an immediate report if the public interest requires it, or can issue a report at the conclusion of the audit.
	The Audit Commission issued revised guidance in 2004 to auditors on the circumstances when a Public Interest Reports (PIR) might be issued. The guidance requires auditors to consult on the draft report with the body, other local stakeholders (including the strategic health authority (SHA)), and any other interested parties. The Department is also given the opportunity to comment on the draft report. However, the decisions as to whether a public interest report should be issued, what it should say and when it should be issued, are made by the auditor.
	The number of PIRs issued under section eight of the Audit Commission Act 1998, from 2002–03 to 2005–06, is shown in the following table.
	
		
			 SHA Number of PIRs issued 
		
		
			 2002–03  
			 Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire 1 
			 West Yorkshire 1 
			   
			 2003–04  
			 Avon, Gloucestershire and Wiltshire 1 
			   
			 2004–05  
			 Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire 1 
			 North West London 1 
			 Surrey and Sussex 1 
			 West Yorkshire 1 
			   
			 2005–06  
			 Avon, Gloucestershire and Wiltshire 4 
			 Birmingham and the Black Country 1 
			 Cheshire and Merseyside 1 
			 County Durham and Tees Valley 2 
			 Greater Manchester 1 
			 Hampshire and the Isle of Wight 3 
			 Kent and Medway 1 
			 Norfolk, Suffolk and Cambridgeshire 3 
			 North and East Yorkshire and Northern  Lincolnshire 2 
			 North West London 4 
			 Shropshire and Staffordshire 1 
			 South East London 1 
			 Surrey and Sussex 2 
			 Thames Valley 1 
		
	
	In 2005–06, the following NHS bodies were issued with PIRs under section eight of the Audit Commission Act 1998:
	Cambridge City PCT and South Cambridgeshire PCT
	Central Suffolk, Ipswich and Suffolk Coastal PCTs
	Cheshire West PCT
	Hampshire and Isle of Wight SHA
	Hillingdon PCT
	Hounslow PCT
	Kennet and North Wiltshire PCT
	Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells NHS Trust
	New Forest PCT
	North Somerset PCT
	North Tees and Hartlepool NHS Trust
	Queen Elizabeth Hospital NHS Trust
	Royal West Sussex NHS Trust
	Royal Wolverhampton Hospitals NHS Trust
	Scarborough and North East Yorkshire NHS Trust
	Selby and York PCT
	Shrewsbury and Telford Hospitals NHS Trust
	South Tees Hospitals NHS Trust
	Southampton University Hospitals NHS Trust
	Suffolk West PCT
	Surrey and Sussex SHA
	Thames Valley SHA
	Trafford Healthcare NHS Trust
	West Wiltshire PCT
	Weston Area Health NHS Trust
	In 2006–07, the following organisation was also issued with PIRs:
	George Eliot Hospitals NHS Trust
	The following organisations have received draft reports and the auditors are considering when/whether to issue them:
	Dacorum PCT
	Hammersmith Hospitals NHS Trust
	Hertsmere PCT
	Kensington and Chelsea PCT
	St. Albans and Harpenden PCT
	University Hospital of North Staffordshire NHS Trust
	Watford and Three Rivers PCT
	West Hertfordshire PCT

St. Richard's Hospital

Andrew Tyrie: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment she has made of the reasons for the deficit at St. Richard's hospital, Chichester; and if she will make a statement.

Caroline Flint: Strategic health authorities (SHAs) are responsible for managing the financial position for their local health communities, which includes assessing the reasons for organisations incurring deficits. SHAs are charged with ensuring that every organisation achieves financial balance.
	Royal West Sussex national health service trust was forecasting, at month six, a deficit of £16.7 million for the financial year 2005–06.
	In order to assist the NHS organisations that have the greatest financial problems, the Secretary of State announced turnaround teams in a written ministerial statement on 1 December 2005.
	The first stage of this is a baseline assessment, the aim of which is to ensure there is an agreed understanding of the local financial problem and that actions are in hand to address this. In this assessment, Royal West Sussex NHS trust was rated as needing urgent intervention to drive turnaround. In conjunction with the SHA, the team is agreeing a tailored package of turnaround support with the organisation.

Turnaround Teams

Paul Farrelly: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  what the estimated cost is in the financial year ended 31 March (a) 2006 and (b) 2007 of the employment of turnaround teams and external accountancy and management advice for the 18 NHS trusts named in her announcement of 25 January 2006;
	(2)  what proportion of the estimated costs of the turnaround teams in the NHS in North Staffordshire will be borne by (a) the Department, (b) the Shropshire and Staffordshire strategic health authority and (c) the relevant NHS trusts;
	(3)  what the estimated costs are of the employment of turnaround teams in the NHS in (a) North Staffordshire and (b) the area of the Shropshire and Staffordshire strategic health authority.

Jane Kennedy: The turnaround teams were announced by the Secretary of State in a written ministerial statement on 1 December 2005, Official Report, column 35WS.
	The first stage of this is a baseline assessment, the aim of which is to ensure there is an agreed understanding of the local financial problem and that actions are in hand to address this. University Hospitals of North Staffordshire NHS Trust, North Stoke primary care trust and Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust were included in the assessment. This was funded by the Department.
	Following the assessment, the local NHS will identify the actions needed to return the organisations to financial balance and what tailored support is needed to support local management. The strategic health authority (SHA) provides advice and support to the procurement of support for the most challenged organisations, including University Hospitals of North Staffordshire NHS Trust and Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust. The costs of these are met locally but for each organisation, the Department has provided funding equivalent to the first three months of a turnaround director.
	The Department has contracted for turnaround directors to work alongside the transition SHA leaders which in the case of Shropshire and Staffordshire, means across the West Midlands area.
	The Department has a budget of £6 million for turnaround work in 2005–06 covering its work with all organisations in the turnaround cohort. The budget for 2006–07 has not yet been finalised.
	The turnaround teams will be needed to the end of 2006–07, when it is expected that the NHS will have returned to financial balance.